Under the Cherry Blossoms

22" × 15" (56 × 38 cm)

Watercolor

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There are moments when the world seems to slow down.

A solitary woman in a kimono drifts quietly along the water beneath a canopy of cherry blossoms. Around her, spring dissolves into reflections—soft pinks and violets meeting the muted greens of the riverbank, while another boat disappears into the distance.

I wanted this painting to feel less like a depiction of a particular place and more like a remembered moment: peaceful, fleeting, and slightly dreamlike.

Cherry blossoms have long carried an association with the transient nature of beauty. Their brilliance lasts only briefly, and perhaps that is what makes us stop and notice them. Here, the figure, the blossoms and their reflections become part of that same passing moment.

Watercolor allowed me to balance structure with uncertainty—the dark geometry of the boats against loose washes, broken edges and passages where pigment is allowed to move freely across the paper.

Under the Cherry Blossoms is ultimately about the quiet pleasure of simply moving through a beautiful moment without needing it to last.