Wish upon a Tanabata Night Painting

“I would love to share my happiness and dreams with many people through my works. The balloon is an ideal motif for me because I believe the balloon delivers hopes and dreams to many people. I wish my works make you smile.” Rie Kono is a Japanese artist and based in a seaside city near Tokyo. She paints mainly acrylic on canvas or wooden board, but she also prefers to paint many other spaces such as old pianos, stairs, stones, bags, umbrellas, and so on. She is searching for spaces she can paint every day. Rie learned painting from her mother-in-law, Konomi. Konomi was a popular artist who paints balloons on her canvas in Japan. “She advised me to paint something fun for me. This advice has still influenced me strongly. I have started to paint balloons once she left because I love her balloon paintings and it reminds me Konomi herself. I think I am still painting with Konomi when I am painting balloons. I wish many people love my balloons as well as I loved Konomi’s.”