The Cherry Blossom Tree

Thankfully we have made it through 2 months of ‘Lockdown’ and spring has well and truly sprung! It’s lovely to see the good weather back again and as you will agree it helps to lift everyone’s spirits.
I’ve managed to find time at my home studio most days to paint which has been lovely in between homeschooling my two boys but to be honest it has been a challenge juggling everything and continuing my creative work.
I did notice the whole transitional element of spring this year as most of us had very little to do but go out into our gardens and observe the world around us on our daily exercise routines. Living in East Belfast I noticed an abundance of beautiful cherry blossom trees and that magical moment as they begin to bloom!

This gave me the inspiration for my next large painting and the memories of the sweet smell of spring helped me put oil paint to canvas during lockdown.

I arranged a Zoom class with my current art students from my Saturday morning class and started off by sketching out the layout of the cherry blossom tree, which gave my class a little inspiration to start a tree of their own.

The significance of the cherry blossom tree in Japanese culture goes back hundreds of years. In Japan, the cherry blossom represents the fragility and the beauty of life. It's a reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but that it is also tragically short. I love researching different elements I wouldn’t have done so before, when starting a painting like this and love learning more in depth meanings into what some of the elements represent.

 This painting has two charming blue tits and one proud peacock perched in the tree. I certainly don’t have a peacock in my garden, but I’ve featured one here as I felt it compliments the vibrant pink colors and style of the tree. All over the world there were so many stories of animals taking over cites during the coronavirus pandemic.  Our way or life has changed, wildlife is roaming free and we are noticing nature more than ever.

 As Ferris Bueller once said “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it”