Cranes and Ex Libris Designs

I paint cranes often. Right now I have a few on a beach with surfboards in the background – more on the children’s book when I finish the painting! Cranes are an important symbol in  Korean Folk Art, as they are part of the ten symbols of long life. Here below is a painting from a screen with two cranes – they were always painted in pairs.

Korean Folk Art Cranes

While I was living in Hong Kong I printed this Ex Libris (also known as a bookplate) using a detail of a painting of three cranes. There’s something about the long life of books that inspires a crane bookplate!

Crane Ex Libris by Jean Tori