SPRING PLUM & FINCH
ACRYLICS ON CEDAR W/RED OAK FRAME
FALL 2024
ACRYLICS ON CEDAR W/RED OAK FRAME
FALL 2024
Winters in Western Washington are typically wet and dark but are not as harsh as in many other places. We rarely have extreme cold, icy conditions, or large accumulations of snow. However, the long season of darkness still challenges many of us. Thus, seeing some of the first blooms of the year brings great joy as they herald the end of winter and signal the coming of the spring. This is also true in Japan where, in particular, the flowering plum has been celebrated in poetry, painting, textiles, and ceramics as a seasonal marker for the beginning of spring. My design for the finch was influenced by both Northwest Coast Native and Celtic art traditions. The overall composition owes much to Japanese art, particularly the allowance for plenty of “empty space” to show the grain of the cedar. Utagawa Hiroshige’s woodblock prints Blossoming Plum Tree and Blossoming Plum Tree with Full Moon, as well as a fan painting by Rinpa artist Ogata Korin acted as inspiration for the painting. I used a tarashikomi-effect, commonly employed by Japanese Rinpa School artists, to paint the tree’s trunk. A Celtic spiral design serves as the sun. I made the frame for this painting out of red oak using pegged, hand-joined, mortise-and-tenon construction methods. I used the Japanese technique (shou-sugi-ban) of charring and oiling the oak to finish the frame.
DIMENSIONS: HEIGHT: 21 5/8 inches
WIDTH: 16 inches
PRICE $500
DIMENSIONS: HEIGHT: 21 5/8 inches
WIDTH: 16 inches
PRICE $500
Hiroshige--Blossoming Plum Tree with Full Moon
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Design of a plum tree on a fan by Ogata Korin
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