Summer garden with pink Hydrangea flowers and tiny blue butterflies. Hand-painted with ink and watercolour on Japanese mulberry paper. Mulberry has a pleasant off-white colour, not quite visible on the photo. Mounted on backing paper for framing.
 
SYMBOLISM OF IMAGES
Hydrangeas are a very popular and symbolic flower in Japan. Just like cherry blossoms, hydrangea blooming map is published annually around May-June time along with the best places to enjoy the flowers.
 
Many legends surround hydrangeas or "Ajisai" (紫陽花). One of them tells a story of an emperor, who gave hydrangea flowers to the family of a girl he loved but failed to take care of. His flower gift was a symbol of apology, gratitude, and sorrow. Another story tells of samurai during Edo period admiring hydrangea for its ability to change colour to adapt to environment. This ability was seen as symbol of immortality. The "Ajisai" characters translate as "purple sun flowers" which perfectly describe their shape.  Even today, hydrangeas are considered as a suitable gift for many occasions and they represent allegiance, gratitude, and sincerity.
 
ARTWORK
The painting is signed, sealed, wet-mounted on backing rice paper and ready to be framed or mounted on a silk scroll. Please use acid-free adhesives when framing. The painting is manually cut, please leave a few mm error margin for dimensions. Colours may differ due to differences in devices.