Water Dragon Poster

This painting was created when it was the Year of the Dragon according to the Asian [Chinese] Zodiac. Jean was always inspired by the twelve animal signs of the zodiac, first discovering them in South Korea, when she lived in Seoul in the early 1970s, and then later when she moved to Hong Kong. Jean especially loved to paint the dragon, not only because she was born in the Year of the Dragon, but also because she was very much inspired by how this mythical animal was depicted in Korean Folk Art. Whereas most Asian dragons appeared as serious and often ferocious, Korean Folk Art dragons were colourful, friendly, and always portrayed as happy. Jean adored this humorous and joyful aspect and painted her dragons in this style. Here Jean’s laughing dragon is surrounded by waves, because in that particular year [2012] the zodiac sign was specifically that of a water dragon.