Asian art has always been my favorite. I love the colors, passion and emotions put into each piece telling the stories of everyday life of the Asian culture. This geisha painting is Amarante (the flower that never fades). She took 3 weeks to complete. She is painted with high detail acrylic paints to tell the story of her character and where she stands in the geisha community. I have included her short story of how she began and where she is now. At a young age she was introduced to an okasan of an okiya to be accepted for training. Once accepted she worked as a shikomi-san for the okasan. She attended classes, did daily chores and helped out the other geisha for 4 years. Once she had completed her shikomi training she was prepared for her misedashi, or debut. For about a month she was a minarai. During this time she observed other geisha at ozakashi, or tea parties/ceremonies, began wearing a kimono ensemble, and her hair was worn in the traditional stylle and she also wore the thick white makeup. After having her formal debut as a junior maiko she attended classes to keep up her skills. Her okiya began searching for an onesan (older sister) for her who would acts as her mentor or teacher. She participated in dances and festivals, to build a good reputation for her and her okiya to be succesful. She is now a junior miako and will be fo the next 3 to 10 years. She is preparing for her erikae or "turning of the collar" to become a full fledged geisha where she will begin to train a younger sister as she was once. This is a beautiful and delicate one of a kind painted story of Amarante the flower that never fades. I hope you enjoy the bottle and the story she has to tell.