“Chigiri-e” is a traditional Japanese art form that means “the art of hand torn paper” and more recently is sometimes referred to as “to paint with paper”.
In the course of my early studies, I studied Chinese Brush Painting. During the creation of The Sakura Tree paintings: I came across the traditional Japanese art forms of osei-e and chigiri-e. My interest in Asian art forms was peaked again. This led to the creation of these and other artworks.
Two of the Kimono paintings were donated to the fundraiser for 2011 Japan tsunami relief in Lethbridge. Many of my thirty four models for The Sakura Tree had family in Japan. In my present studio development of my next major prairie cultural series: I am using both osei-e and chigiri-e techniques.