The Chinese Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, began around 2,000 years ago during the Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE), making it the oldest light festival in the world, although the holiday's exact origins are somewhat unclear. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the first month in the lunisolar Chinese calendar, during the full moon. Although red, round lanterns were traditionally used, many different colours and shapes feature nowadays and make for a bright, colourful painting.
I chose to create a piece about this particular light festival to celebrate my grandchildren’s heritage as their paternal grandfather is Chinese.