Tai Chi fans were once used by females to protect the emperor in China. The dance of these guardians was one of beauty and their fan movements graceful as they approached any perceived threat to him. Taking a Tai Chi class and learning how to use a fan like the female guardians of old was the inspiration for this painting. Also intriguing is the concept of chi energy. The figure in the painting holds the fan over water (underworld), land (earth), and sky (heaven), moving the chi both externally and internally. The iris represents a concentration of this chi energy moving upwards, although it is everywhere and can move anywhere.