Cherry blossoms

Recently framed this mixed media collage and hung it in my studio. Found a few other paces in the house where it worked well also. Will have to do more of these as I am pleased with this one and working with red back grounds. Currently reading "An Artist of the Floating World" by Kazuo Ishiguro, a novel about a Japanese artist set in postwar Japan. Also experiencing cherry blossoms in real life... A chilly, but welcome spring.

I took a class at the Pennyslvania Academy of Fine Art in Japanese brush painting.  Keiko Miyamori was our instructor and I learned all the traditional strokes for bamboo, plum blossoms, orchids, rocks as well as learning about Japanese paper.   These blossoms I tore from practice paper that I made in class.  The paper for the branches is handmade paper that I purchased at the book, paper scissor event at Th Philadelphia Frre Library.

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