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Description
Here's something about perspective.

This is a project I did as a part of the employment's "Wellness day" initiative. After some workshops on mindfulness and attaining fulfillment and happiness in multiple aspects of one's life, we are sent to do a recreational activities for the afternoon. I chose something I've never done before. In this case... painting unbaked clay. It's amazing what a blank canvas can inspire you to do sometimes.

The flowers depicted, Lycoris radiata rubra is a staple in anime. Most people can recognize it on sight while struggling to come up with its name. (It's called " (red) spider lily" in English.) For those who are savvy enough to come up with a name, the word "higanbana" (彼岸花) usually come to mind along with fanciful legends about the boundaries between life and death. There are many legends surrounding this flower that usually have something to do with death, reincarnation and some sort of profound sadness. Indeed, that's what most people choose to use this flower to symbolize in their works. However, that is not the only - nor the first - name for this otherworldly flower. Originally described in the first book of the Lotus Sutra (Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, literally "Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma". Written between 50-150 CE), the Manjusaka (曼珠沙華) was said to rain down from heaven when the Buddha preaches or when other wonderful events occur. It is described as one of the "four kinds of flowers" of heaven. And it is the same flower.

I guess there's always two sides to the same thing. And it depends on where we stand and which perspective we choose to see the issue as it stands. The same flowers can stand for some inconsolable sadness or the most unrestrained joy. But it is us who make that decision.

南無妙法蓮華経

Artist's Note
1. Painted free-hand over 2 hours at the local clay cafe. Glazing and baking completed by in-house staff.
2. A total of 7 glazes ("white", "extreme white", "Red", "Speckled red", "pink", "black" and "yellow".)
3. Photographic details in the meta-data. Photoshop CS4 was used to crop and add in watermark only.

Description
Here's something about perspective.

This is a project I did as a part of the employment's "Wellness day" initiative. After some workshops on mindfulness and attaining fulfillment and happiness in multiple aspects of one's life, we are sent to do a recreational activities for the afternoon. I chose something I've never done before. In this case... painting unbaked clay. It's amazing what a blank canvas can inspire you to do sometimes.

The flowers depicted, Lycoris radiata rubra is a staple in anime. Most people can recognize it on sight while struggling to come up with its name. (It's called " (red) spider lily" in English.) For those who are savvy enough to come up with a name, the word "higanbana" (彼岸花) usually come to mind along with fanciful legends about the boundaries between life and death. There are many legends surrounding this flower that usually have something to do with death, reincarnation and some sort of profound sadness. Indeed, that's what most people choose to use this flower to symbolize in their works. However, that is not the only - nor the first - name for this otherworldly flower. Originally described in the first book of the Lotus Sutra (Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, literally "Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma". Written between 50-150 CE), the Manjusaka (曼珠沙華) was said to rain down from heaven when the Buddha preaches or when other wonderful events occur. It is described as one of the "four kinds of flowers" of heaven. And it is the same flower.

I guess there's always two sides to the same thing. And it depends on where we stand and which perspective we choose to see the issue as it stands. The same flowers can stand for some inconsolable sadness or the most unrestrained joy. But it is us who make that decision.

南無妙法蓮華経

Artist's Note
1. Painted free-hand over 2 hours at the local clay cafe. Glazing and baking completed by in-house staff.
2. A total of 7 glazes ("white", "extreme white", "Red", "Speckled red", "pink", "black" and "yellow".)
3. Photographic details in the meta-data. Photoshop CS4 was used to crop and add in watermark only.