This is an archival PRINT of an original painting by artist Belinda Joynes.

The original painting was based on an ancient Chinese myth:

"The daughter of a Goddess, Zhinu was a skilled weaver and she lived in the heavens with her sisters. Tired of her duties of weaving beautiful coloured clouds, Zhinu ran away only to meet a handsome young cowherd, Niulang. The two fell deeply in love, married in secret and had two children together. 
When the Goddess found out, she was very angry, and she ordered that Zhinu be brought back to heaven. The cowherd was distraught at the loss of his wife, and took their two children to search for her in the heavens. The Goddess grew angry, and pulled the hairpin out of her hair and scratched a great river in the sky to separate the two lovers, thus forming the Milky Way. The lovers must sit on each side of the Milky Way, never to be together again, except once a year, when all the magpies in the world become a bridge to allow two lovers to reunite.