acrylic on canvas *another one of my images from this tale can be seen here

This is from the Japanese folktale Tsuru no ongaeshi. A crane repays her human rescuer(s) by returning to him/them in the disguise of a maiden and gifted weaver, creating valuable and beautiful clothes that can be sold for great sums. She creates these fantastic fabrics in secret, in her crane form, weaving her own feathers into the loom, though it taxes her physically and mentally to do so. She does it out of loyalty and gratitude. She gives of herself, into the cloth.