Beautiful Snow Plum Blossom Scroll

The plum blossom is one of the few flowers that will bloom in the winter. Here it is shown blooming even in a harsh snow storm.

The Chinese characters to the right of the signature and artist's red stamp are actually a Chinese poem. I would translate this roughly as, "Old branch as if like iron, stands alone in the cold, with blossoms open".

A woman's strength and beauty is sometimes compared to the plum blossom. The comparison comes from the idea that even in difficult times or conditions, a woman's beauty and fortitude still comes through - just as the plum blossom blooms in the snow.

This is a freehand style painting by (Qing Yu-Dian) of Beijing, China.

This type of painting must be done quickly as the xuan paper (rice paper) absorbs the ink very fast.

One wrong move by the artist, and all is lost.

Artists who practice this type of work in China must have many years of experience.

Materials used in this work are watercolor and special black Chinese ink on xuan paper (rice paper). Later I had the painting mounted to a scroll with silk matting.