"Sakura" is the Japanese word for "cherry blossom". It refers to the flower of any of the trees of the genus Prunus, but particularly of the Japanese cherry-tree, Prunus serrulata.
For the Japanese, the Sakura blossom is very important. The "hanami", which means practically picknicking under a cherry tree (Sakura) or Japanese apricot (ume) tree in bloom is practically the equivalent of MayDay in the Western hemisphere. The Japanese follow in spring the "line of blooms" or "cherry blossom front" (sakura zensen) that means that finally spring is there to stay, and winter is over. The Sakura is also the symbol of "mono no aware", the conscientization of the ephemerality of things, of impermanence, and the feeling that accompanies it, a kind of gentle sadness.
There are many kinds of Sakura blossoms, as in time gardeners have selectively bred cherry trees specially for their blooms. But the original, true Sakura blossom is the simple cherry blossom with five petals, with no double and triple petals. Japanese art and sense of beauty is closely associated with the elegance of simple lines and motifs.
So this Sakura cane is the simple five-petal cherry tree blossom. I will make later a "ruffled" cherry-tree blossom, but as a piece of advice, if you are trying to create a cane that would show such a cherry blossom, do not make the mistake of thinking that just making more than 5 petals is enough to represent such a flower. The effect will be to make it not look like a cherry blossom anymore - the "double" or "triple" petals that give the ruffled look to these flowers are stacked behind, not lined side by side with the first 5 petals, and are also in groups of 5, just slightly offset relatively to the circle of stamens.
So, let's get to work. I worked the cane in Premo clay, so the colors are the Premo colors:
Translucent (for wrapping)
