I have great memories of growing up around San Francisco and going to Chinatown once in a while with the family or school groups. I can remember, but not clearly, how the lanterns looked sparkling at night. Lightning bugs, too — I can remember being fascinated with them, as most kids are. I got a relatively technical book about them — how they fly, why they blink, how they form social attachments — that I read on a vacation once. I can’t remember the name of it now, and it was probably way over my head, but I ate up every word.
This painting is my representation of those memories.