SuMoCa Arts

SuMoCa Arts is the creative collaboration of a family of Hawaii artists whose artwork have been displayed in numerous art exhibitions, locally, nationally, and internationally, and purchased by the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts as part of its permanent collection for public display.  We specialize in creating original works of origami crane art for a lifetime of viewing pleasure.

Our customized origami crane artwork are professionally designed and mounted as labors of love for the craft.  We seek to capture the beauty and spirit of the love that is the foundation of the celebratory event in all our designs.  As such, the collaborative effort between you and our artist is indispensable to the creation of a suitable design for the occasion.  To the extent possible and practicable, all our designs are original creations that are customized to your preferences.  Origami crane designs also make great gifts for loved ones on special occasions.

We create this elegant and personalized work of art for you at a reasonable price.  Ordinarily, the custom crane designs are mounted on black velvet and framed in a black lacquer frame with gold trim.  Other background colors and frames are also available. Usually, you provide the 1001 folded origami cranes for the design.  We can, however, arrange for an independent contractor to provide crane folding services for you.  Folded cranes must be delivered to us no later than one month prior to the event or occasion.  Shorter time frames can be accommodated for an additional rush charge.  Packing and shipping is also available.

For Further Information

In Japanese, Chinese and Korean tradition, cranes stand for peace and long life.  In Japan, the crane is known as “the bird of happiness” and is often referred to as “Honorable Lord Crane”.  Folded white paper origami cranes are often placed at memorial parks to symbolize peace.  As symbols of longevity, they are often shown in works of art with other symbols of long life such as pine trees, tortoises, stones and bamboo.  The Japanese have traditionally given 1000 folded paper cranes in a rainbow of colors (known as "senbazuru") to ill people to wish them a quick recovery.  Cranes are also associated with fidelity because they pair for life and are devoted to their partners in all seasons.  Both male and female cranes work together to build their nest and care for their young.  Additionally, cranes are associated with good fortune and prosperity so they are often painted with the sun, which is a symbol of social ambition.  In Asia, it is commonly said that folding 1000 paper origami cranes makes a wish come true.

In Hawaii, the tradition of folding origami cranes for special occasions has continued and evolved over the last several decades to include an additional crane, presumably for good luck.  Now, the 1001 cranes are used primarily to commemorate happy occasions, like weddings and birthdays, in the form of a collage-based work of art that serves as a beautiful memento of important life events.  In typical island fashion over the ensuing years, this custom incorporated the Chinese culture’s preference for the use of gold to represent prosperity, as the color of choice for the cranes used in weddings.  Over the last several years, however, use of other colors such as silver and red has increased and is now widely accepted as a suitable alternative to the more traditional gold cranes.  Elegantly crafted origami crane designs perpetually commemorate special occasions with a personal touch that captures the beauty and memories of the event.  No Hawaiian wedding is truly complete without a customized origami crane design.

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