I painted this as a house-warming gift for my daughter. It’s a little 12″x12” art spell. Everything that I wished for her in her new home and in her life is found in this painting. The water- lily or lotus has several meanings, I picked new beginnings, love in both the mundane and the sublime sense and the blessing of beauty in her life. The gold-fish or Koi symbolize bravery, the courage to overcome difficulties and strength in adversity, always good to have, they are also considered very lucky. The dragonfly has many meanings but the one I most wanted to include in my wish was the ability to live fully in the present and find joy in each moment.
I decided to make this image into a card for my sister’s birthday, wishing her all these things too. Sorry about the blurriness of the first photo, I will lay of the caffeine and use a tripod next time, I promise!
There is a lovely tutorial on how to make the inside of the card here on the Dick Blick website. It’s under their lesson plans and is called a water-lily pop-up card. They have some really good tutorials on their site, great prices on art supplies, and things you can’t find anywhere else and no, I don’t get any kick backs from them:)
May you have love, luck and laughter in your life!
Jane E. Ward Art 