About the Oriental aesthetic....It comes through really clearly to me in your work; the flat picture plane is very reminiscent of oriental block prints - like those that influenced Toulouze-Lautrec; your choice of subject matter - very quiet and contemplative. The blossoming tree (cherry blossoms, perhaps?) is a very frequent subject in oriental art; The simplicity of your images - as simple, yet profound, as a haiku poem. You seem to have a real concern for the "formal" aspects of your work - and that is very much what I see in oriental work. (I'm referring to traditional oriental work - like the block prints. I'm not real familiar with contemporary oriental painting. Althoug, that would make for interesting research!)

Anyway, its fun that you didn't let on about your heritage, and that it came through. I'm wondering if you were exposed to a lot of oriental art growing up, and so you just sort of assimilated the aesthetic? Interesting food for thought for you.

--LeslieJean

HI! You inquired about my piece, Cocoon. The "rocks/eggs" are ceramic - thrown on the wheel but closed up, paddled and smoke fired. The rest is sticks, rafia, copper wire, and found Canadian Goose down (for the nest).While the main part is about 4' tall, not counting the distance from the floor. It's meant to be encountered at a human scale when hung. Thanks for visiting my site. I'm still adding a few more images, so visit again soon.

While here, I took a look at your gallery...you seem to have a very oriental aesthetic. Very nice use of colors in Birch.