My mom's 60th birthday was this past Saturday. I never know what to give her when it comes to gifts. I usually resort to craft/art because I like making it even though most of the time it ends up sitting in her closet somewhere for years. I painted a series of watercolor flowers for my parents as a thank you gift when Tom and I married and told them that when they finish remodeling their house they can hang the paintings up. 5 years later the paintings are still not up, the house still not finished.
Perhaps this is a hint that I shouldn't make anything for them any more. But I honestly think that they like getting handmade things from me. Perhaps it's vanity, perhaps denial on my part. They have kept all the handmade cards I gave them when I was a kid. Granted, they have kept boxes of Jell-o from 1980 as well.
Still, 60 years is no small feat. So I made my mom another art piece. I'm not original to come up with an idea on my own so I based this collage on a late 18th century Japanese woodblock painting called Beauty Waiting for a Boat, by artist Chobunsai Eishi. I used a couple hundred tiny pieces of paper in about 20 different colors. The collage size is 12"x16" and the finished frame size is 19.5" x 23."
Here's a side by side comparison:
Perhaps this is a hint that I shouldn't make anything for them any more. But I honestly think that they like getting handmade things from me. Perhaps it's vanity, perhaps denial on my part. They have kept all the handmade cards I gave them when I was a kid. Granted, they have kept boxes of Jell-o from 1980 as well.
Still, 60 years is no small feat. So I made my mom another art piece. I'm not original to come up with an idea on my own so I based this collage on a late 18th century Japanese woodblock painting called Beauty Waiting for a Boat, by artist Chobunsai Eishi. I used a couple hundred tiny pieces of paper in about 20 different colors. The collage size is 12"x16" and the finished frame size is 19.5" x 23."
Here's a side by side comparison:
Here is a closeup of the collage:
Here's the frame for it. Please pardon the glare in the photo:
Detail of the frame:
My Japanese signature stamp:
I was a bit worried that my mom would just say, "Hey that's nice," and casually put it away. Luckily I had the good fortune of having her friends and family around when she opened her gift and they gushed over it, so I think she was proud of her daughter's talent of cutting and pasting.
