Summer Palace - Bejing by Gail Carolyn Sirna

On our recent trip to China I was enchanted by a small building found on the grounds of the famed Summer Palace, the warm weather home of the late Dowager Empress.

The unidentified building seemed to encapsulate the feel of all the historic structures around the Northern Capital, the red walls, the painted ceilings, the pagoda style roof. I have included in this composition two trees which were ubiquitous throughout the parts of China we visited – the willow and the plum blossom tree. How they enhanced the landscapes and delighted the eye. A few flowers complete the design.

This is the eighth of a group of small designs entitled Postcards from Paradise – my attempt to capture in needlework that things I experience when traveling. Usually I put the name of the place on the "postcard", and I did so here, only I chose to use the Chinese characters for Middle Kingdom, which is how the Chinese perceive themselves.