Painting Plum Blossoms

When I took art classes at college the professor drummed into our heads the need for an interesting background. I love Oriental paintings but most of them are background-less. I was at a local retail store the other day, one near my neighborhood, that specializes in Chinese porcelain and there was a huge vat as tall as I am that was absolutely gorgeous. The glaze was a smooth moss green matte, and the plum blossoms and branches were a gloss glaze. The contrast between the textures as well as the colors was absolutely stunning!

I'm bisque firing a bunch of green-ware tomorrow, beads as well as pottery. One of the vases I'm planning to put in the kiln demands some sort of painting on it. The shape of it would be perfect for some plum blossoms, I believe. However, I'm still unsure of the colors and the color scheme to use. Therefore, I'm experimenting with some beads, first. I often do that. I've found it's a good way to test out how the glazes will behave on a certain clay body, in this case Taos Red earthenware that I'm firing to stoneware temperatures.

In the meantime, I'm watching some You Tube videos on painting plum blossoms. And I'm going to also experiment some on the beads and see what I come up with. And when I am satisfied with whatever it is I come up with, I will paint THAT on the vase I am putting into the kiln tomorrow.