This blog is dedicated to my grandmother, and to all those who have been touched in some way by the art of my origami cranes. I am paying it forward, one small piece of paper at a time.



Senbazuru is the Japanese art of folding one thousand origami cranes. There is a legend stating that whoever folds 1,000 paper cranes will be granted a wish by the ancient bird spirit, but traditionally the feat is performed to wish eternal good luck, benevolence, and one thousand years of prosperity. For these reasons, I felt in my heart that it would be the perfect expression of appreciation, gratitude and ultimately, respectful farewell.


From the moment the idea came to me, I knew I could mould and shape this project into my own expression of something we could share together - a labor of love that she would appreciate, even if no one else in my family could fully understand what it all meant.


Each set of one hundred cranes featured here represents a moment, a memory, a spark in my life that we shared together that helped influence the person who I have become today. I hope you enjoy reading my personal reflections, so that you may fully understand the empowerment this project has had on me, and the inspiring statement of sharing beauty and joy that I learned as a result of folding my 1,000th crane.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

800/1000

This set of cranes is not my own memory, but one of my daughter's. I asked if she'd like to help fold some cranes, and if there were any special moments that she enjoyed spending with you. Lindsay told me about the card games you would play together on her visits to the apartment, and how much fun she had. She was especially fond of the automatic shuffler.

There are 52 white cranes all representing an individual card from a standard playing deck, plus one joker. I drew each suit and number on them in black and red ink, including the illustrations for the face cards. Lindsay helped fold a number of them. We hope you enjoy the memory.



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