“Backyard Fireflies”

Garden landscapes are a favorite of Asian artists who paint peony best. By bringing focus to the community life of these flowers, such sumi-e masters bring to us virtual explosions of luxurious blossoms and their abundant “packages of color” while, at the same time, broadening the conversation to include a mesmerizing focus on composition. Designed well, garden composition should asserts the important movements of stem and leaf as they frame the members of the flower neighborhood. Fireflies on magic summer evenings light up these moments in the yards surrounding out homes.