New Work in Progress

many of you know, I have been reading many many many Chinese Ghost Stories and Fairytales. On the way to designing some 3d pieces I have started painting from one story, the Horse and the Mulberry, a classic fable of silk origins.

In brief, the story goes thus: a daddy goes to war, a girl weeps on her horse, she will marry whomsoever brings her daddy home, the horse runs off and comes back with papa, the horse stops eating when the girl ignores him, eventually the father divines the truth of the matter from the girl, and slays and skins the horse for its impertinence and impropriety, but the horsehide whips off the drying line, wraps up the girl and flies off.... to a Mulberry bush where the horsehide and the girl become a silkworm and cocoon, she spinning silk whenever she thinks of her father, for all eternity... Here is the cartoon in progress... the first composition above, underneath, the current development. The finished piece will feature several plants and flowers, either specific to the story or significant in traditional culture or meaning.