This is the one of twelve images I created during my travels through Japan.

Jizo are everywhere in Japan. They are little statues, usually made of stone, and many have knitted bonnets and shawls of red wool.

They are a symbol of compassion and are a great comfort to parents whose children have died young. The Jizo smuggle their souls into the afterlife, in the sleeves of their robes, as the belief is that the children have not been able to build enough good Karma before they have died.

I have used a stippling method, of small dots, applied by a felt pen, to create the original drawing that is used for the giclée process.