more etegami uchiwa (bamboo flat fans)

I'm almost ready for summer! (ps: I fixed the misspelling on the clover fan after I took this photo. embarrassed.)

dancing among the clover

Some time ago, I was asked to design a cover for the Japanese translation of a best-selling book that a friend had written on the subject of marriage. After reading the original English version, the image that came to my mind was a clover chain. The three clover blossoms (God, husband, wife), the heart-shaped leaves (love), the braided stems (strength, stability), and even the fragrance of the blossoms (offering, sacrifice) are all part of the symbolism that ties the image to the theme of the book, and was inspired by a verse from Ecclesiastes 4:12: Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. See also Ephesians 5:2

I received a pdf of the final version of the cover from the publisher today!

clover makes me happy

clover chain

This is work-in-progress for a book cover illustration. There's a lot of symbolism in it that has to do with the content of the book, which I won't try to explain here. The title of the book will be in Japanese, and I don't know yet whether the words will be printed vertically or horizontally. In Japanese, it can go either way.  Hopefully this image will work in either case. On the other hand, I'll probably wake up tomorrow with a totally different idea, and start over from scratch.