Chinese Lantern Plants

There are few things more inspiring to the creation of artwork than having some other piece of art you should be working on instead.

While I was doing research for this other important project, I came across photos of withering Chinese lantern plants and so discovered that they actually contain little red fruits inside those papery husks; hence their other name, winter cherry. I’m sure this is old news to everyone who has the slightest talent for gardening, but I was pretty psyched about it. Even better was the way the veins of the husk formed a lacework cage over the fruit when the husk started drying out.

Prints of this piece can be purchased at:

http://society6.com/DanaMartin/Chinese-Lantern-Winter-Cherry_Print

Now I have to get back to my real work.