Sakura

The lovely sakura blossom: light and delicate, sweet and simple, exotic and just lovely. When I came across this painting, I truly thought it was a photograph until I found it wasn't.

"Sakura" shows a great applied amount of amassed knowledge of color and technique. Each petal is painted with such accuracy to simply take my breath away. Detail is not skimped out on, nothing is compromised--not color, not feeling. The blurred background is surprisingly effective at adding subtle depth to the painting and framing the clear blossoms without stealing the show. Simple, but it works so well. Everything seems to be put just where it was intended in the first place to recreate Mother Nature's work. Just look. Count how many shades are used in each flower. Can you count them all?

The observer may often overlook just how much painstaking effort an artist puts into their work. The world does not always reward us based on our effort; I'm sure many of us have had that feeling before--of not having our work appreciated as much as it should--and no one likes it. Enjoy the simple miracles as they come to you. So this will be my simple miracle of today.

Congratulations on this beautiful accomplishment!