Illustrator and Hawaii Island resident Jing Jing Tsong has been selected as the 2015 National Cherry Blossom Festival Official Artist. Her work, which features vibrant compositions, combines traditional printmaking with digital techniques. Tsong created a one-of-a-kind piece exclusively for the National Cherry Blossom Festival. An annual collector’s item, this artwork will be on the official poster and various merchandise.
To create the intricate and iconic cherry blossoms, Tsong used an Edo-period pochoir technique that is comparable to a very fine stencil. Patterns incorporated in the tree trunk and backgound blossoms were made from a traditional block printing technique and the stylized wood thrushes are meant to welcome spring.
“I remember springtime as a rich sensory experience,” said Tsong. “In the artwork, I tried to capture the idea of nature ‘waking up’ from a long winter slumber with song and color, the branches of the tree reaching out to embrace the warmth of the season.”
Tsong’s images have been featured in national and international design magazines and her illustrations appear in the New York Times best-selling children’s picture book, “A Bucket of Blessings” by Kabir Seghal and Surishtha Seghal. Her artwork is also featured in two Forever stamps from the U.S. Postal Service. A mom, musician and surfer, Tsong was born in Pennsylvania and lives on the Big Island with her husband.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs March 20 to April 12 in Washignton, D.C., is the nation’s greatest springtime celebration and Tsong will be signing posters during the final weekend. For more information, visit nationalcherryblossomfestival.org or pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.