In 'Chou/ The First Blush of Winter', the beauty of the winter waters of this inland sea is captured in a fusion of myriad tints that required many hours of precise dyeing to achieve the artist’s desired effect. These dyes were brushed on by hand, but the tiny white dots that represent falling snowflakes were made by a tie-dye process called kanoko shibori, or ‘fawn spot’ shibori, because of their resemblance to the white spots seen on the coats of a young fawns. The elegance of the bare, twisted branches of a skillfully drawn tree offers another reminder of winter’s onset in this design.