A welcome sign you’re homeward bound, the wayfaring tree is so named because it grows close to paths. Look for them in hedges and woodland edges, with full bloom in the spring and heavy with berries in the autumn.
Swamp-dweller, water-lover. The wood of this tough tree doesn’t rot when waterlogged, instead turning stronger and harder.
Trees woods and wildlife
A reputation for causing a bang. Alder buckthorn is used to make gunpowder, pigments and dyes. It’s a beloved plant of the brimstone butterfly.
Trees woods and wildlife
One of our most beloved trees. Ash is one of the most common trees in the UK, but as ash dieback sweeps through, is it set to be erased from our countryside?
Trees woods and wildlife
Trembling, fluttering and shimmering in the slightest breeze. The rippling leaves of this beautiful tree give it its name: quaking aspen.
Trees woods and wildlife
Beech, common
Monumental, majestic, home to rare wildlife. Beech is an enchanting species and known as the queen of British trees. To wander beneath the leafy canopy, its cathedral-like branches spreading upwards, is an awe-inspiring experience.
Trees woods and wildlife
How to make the Cherry Blossom Branch Craft
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Supplies:
- blue construction paper
- craft paint; brown, white, and violet
- paintbrush
- Sharpie
Instructions:
1. Lightly trace the outline of a tree branch with a pencil, then paint it brown.
2. Pour a little white paint, then add a drop of violet and swirl, but don’t mix.
3. Have your child dip their finger into the paint, then press to make the blossoms.
4. Make two side by side thumbprints for the butterfly and outline with a marker.
5. Write, “Hello, Spring!”
Find our Fingerprint Spring Cherry Blossom Tree Craft here! It also incorporates counting making it a fun way to learn.
Books About Japan for Kids
Two friends, a boy from the country and a girl from the city, take us on a tour of their beloved land through their eyes. They introduce us to their homes, families, favorite places, school life, holidays and more!
Celebrate the cherry blossom festival
Learn traditional Japanese songs and poems
Make easy recipes like mochi (New Year’s sweet rice cakes) and okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza or pancakes)
Create origami frogs, samurai helmets and more!Beyond the fun and fascinating facts, you’ll also learn about the spirit that makes Japan one-of-a-kind. This is a multicultural children’s book for families to treasure together.
In this treasure trove of much-beloved Japanese children’s stories, you’ll meet charming characters drawn from folklore and passed down for generations. These tales about playful goblins with long noses, walking statues, and a delightful hero who just happens to be one inch tall speak of the virtues of honesty, humility and hard work. What better way for a parent to teach than through stories that thrill their children!
Fun Cherry Blossom Resources for Kids
Did you know the Japanese word for these flowering cherry trees is sakura? Find more fun facts + learn about Japan over on the following websites:
Blossom Kids – an interactive way to learn about the annual festival held in Washington D.C.
Kids Web Japan – Explore and learn about Japanese culture.
Finding the right color
The exact paper sample doesn’t need to be pristine, any empty corner of an older test sheet (or sheets) will do. A nice gradation, little blur, slightly darker and contrasting with the wind “printing” gradation. I think we have the right stroke now. Which leaves us with the next open question. Where to start?
A cherry tree branch must come from somewhere, and there is the temptation to start from where you “see” the origin of this particular branch in your mind, to want to control its overall look. But wherever a bird perches, that is where the branch painting should start. This is the one that needs to be “landed” right, and will determine the main connections necessary.
In this case the perching spot runs right over the two “tiles” divide. I need to place the sheets as exactly as possible and keep them fixed while painting.
In my cherry tree, blossom branches have a more or less constant growth rhythm, but certain edges show a lot of short, consecutive growths, usually closest to where the fresh leaves sprout. I keep this in mind when moving the brush further away from the bird. When I started this painting only a few, not fully unfurled leaves where showing and I try to keep that atmosphere here too.
Knowing when to stop
After the branches are done, a few detail brushstrokes add a certain depth. Cherry trees have a particularly shiny bark with a few horizontal streaks visible every so often. Letting the brush run dry before continuing is a good choice to achieve the “shine”. A few black fine lines added just in the right places create the “streaks”.
But, are we done yet? Is the main trunk of the tree visible in the background or not? Are there more blossom clouds, more trees visible in the background? Is there a distant landscape? Is this bird perching in a city tree or mountain tree? Is this bird real? How come I can see some of the flowers behind it?
I could provide an answer to all of the questions above by adding more elements, or “shading” the bird for volume.
But other than some gold leaf flakes, I decide against any of the above. It’s up to the viewer to decide what they want to see. I am particularly against adding anything more to the bird. Its super flat, see-through yet dominant position is exactly what I’m looking for. The notion that a bird that was painted over 150 years ago in a woodblock print sketch sheet could have taken flight and perched in a new place this spring. Brought over by the wind that scatters the blossoms once more.
I promised a finished painting, but there is one thing left to do still in the week ahead. To sign and seal the work in the lower left corner of the full composition.
This will not be an easy work to photograph without its final frame. Ah, yes, the frame. That could be the beginning of a whole new discussion. What do you think? How would like to see this unusual asymmetric triptych framed?
What next?
Part 03 of “A month in Japan” is still not here, and it’s already April. Perhaps we are overthinking this much, perhaps it’s the next painting in the “Eight Views of Kanazawa in Winter” that is itching to be started. It seems that words or ink strokes, I have only one mindspace to be. See you again next week.
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