This Origami Enthusiast Spent Each Day Creating A New Origami Paper Crane for 1000 Days

He describes himself as an exceptionally ordinary origami enthusiast. But his humility doesn’t hide his extraordinary zeal in doing something that has not been done before.

Meet Cristian Marianciuc, who in 2015 challenged himself to create one origami paper crane per day for 365 days. With this as his goal, this amazing origami artist started cutting and folding these incredible miniature paper cranes one per day. However, doing this generated such passion in him that he continued creating the cranes much past his 365-day target and stopped only when he had completed doing so for 1000 days!

What’s most surprising is Cristian’s creations, though of a similar-shaped crane, are far from similar. Some are in pure white and off-white shades, but others are not only in vibrant colors but also decorated with all sorts of beads, threads, feathers, leaves, flowers, and what have you.

However, after meeting this challenge he’s not done yet. Says he,

“After having folded and decorated origami cranes daily for 1000 consecutive days, I took a short break, but I couldn’t stop creating new ones, even though no longer on a daily basis. I’m allowing myself to explore more themes and techniques, and to find inspiration in even more places.”

Cristian’s inspiration in creating origami items comes from varied sources, such as nature, Japanese folklore, Greek mythology, and personal experiences. In his newer models, he brings freshness by imparting amazingly intricate cuts and vivid details. It’s his unique artistic approach and remarkable aesthetics that sets him apart from other origami artists.

Cristian assures all that he’ll continue to cut out his signature cranes, but will also start a mini-series inspired by Japanese folklore. His cranes and other origami works are a testimony to his amazing creative sense, eye for detail, imaginative use of color, and a fresh approach to traditional origami.


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“Olympus III” Song of the day: Death in reverse by John Mark McMillan @johnmarkmcmillan Posting this last photo from the series feels quite melancholic. But it’s almost like some sort of closure. And if there is something that I lack in my life is a healthy amount of closure, haha! I started tidying up my room today, but I gave up half-way through. So now I have a pile of stuff in the middle of the room, waiting to be relocated/put back/thrown away. It’s terribly cold outside, and I just came back from a walk. My moustache and beard turned white and my ears are still defrosting. I should probably go downstairs and fix myself a hot cup of mint tea with lemon and honey. Off I go! I hope everyone is having a peaceful weekend! x #origami #icarusmidair #mythology #olympus #white #wings #wings #paperart #papercut #craft #diy #paper #feathers #feather #delicate #miniature

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“Poseidon” crane Song of the day: Odyssey by Talos @thisistalos As promised, I am continuing with another look at Greek mythology through “paper crane lenses”. The next three creations will tell their stories in white. And let’s start with Poseidon – the god of seas, rivers, floods, droughts and earthquakes. I did quite a bit of research for today’s crane. I wanted to reference a few exceptional sea dwelling creatures. How many can you spot? Here they are: the blue glaucus (aka blue angel, sea swallow, blue sea slug), two types of flying fish and the majestic leafy sea dragon. On a celebratory note – guess who finished planting 4000 berry bushes yesterday? This guy! I mean, me, me…I did! Not by myself, of course, but yay! And now, I have to put on my work clothes again for maybe an hour or so, and go plant a handful of tilia trees (or linden/basswood). They have the most fragrant flowers, I cannot wait for next year and the years after that to sit under them and hopefully dream up more cranes, hehe. Have a spectacular weekend! #origami #icarusmidair #mythology #poseidon #white #blackandwhite #wings #wings #ocean #paperart #papercut #craft #diy #paper #boredpanda

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“Prometheus” crane Song of the day: Flickering by Danny Barwick @dannybarwickmusic I worked on this crane over almost an entire week. I took my time, I hesitated to start, I got too excited and then I landed back on solid ground. I got emotional about it. And that’s how I knew this particular bird would have a lasting impact on me. Initially, I created seven pairs of minuscule wings, smaller than I had ever attempted. “Unplucking” each feather became like a meditation. But seven pairs of wings were not enough: so I went ahead and created nine more, nine even smaller pairs of wings. I started a fire within me with the help of 32 paper wings. A cherub poured in gold. #origami #icarusmidair #paperart #wings #wing #feathers #gold #miniature #cherub #angel #prometheus #icarus

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“birds of different feathers“ crane Song of the day: When the party’s over by Billie Eilish @wherearetheavocados #WHPDressUp Behold the mighty Grus Japonensis dressed up as a colorful macaw. I love giving my cranes new personalities and identities, especially when using inspiration from other birds. Lately, I’ve accumulated quite the collection with photos of birds and their plumage here, on @Instagram. Each one of them is a wonderful creation! And I find endless inspiration in them. Early next week, this crane along with a few others (and a couple of papercut pieces) will land in my Etsy shop. (link in my profile) Until then, have a wonderful weekend! X #origami #icarusmidair #macaw #bird #wings #feathers #crane #paperart #paper #wing #feather #miniature #delicate

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“kogarashi 3” crane Song of the day: Underneath it by Ásgeir @asgeirmusic Another cold, cold day, but it’s so warm and cozy in my room! I managed to tidy up my desk and there is SO much space now, haha! Here is bird #3 of the ‘kogarashi’ (木枯らし) mini-collection. I am currently typing and also looking at the birds together, to my right. There are 11 cranes sitting around me, some old, some plain, some waiting for their extra pairs of wings. I love this little paper universe I created for myself. It’s not big at all, just perfect for one. It is slowly starting to feel like Christmas back here. I am preparing myself for a few days filled with citrus aroma, delicious food, too many people around me and many, wonderful memories linked to this beautiful event. I hope everyone is having a peaceful weekend! x #origami #acrylic #acrylicpaint #cristianmarianciuc #icarusmidair #mixedmedia #木枯らし #kogarashi #paper #paperart

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“Azrael” crane Song of the day: Be still, my tongue (slow meadow rework) by Snorri Hallgrímsson @snorri_hallgrimsson @slowmeadow Here is the first crane, of hopefully many, that I’ve created as a tribute to an artist I really look up to – this time it is Peter Mohrbacher @petemohrbacher. His ‘Angelarium” series is breathtaking. Just beautiful. So, I took inspiration from his piece ‘Azrael’ and I came up with this crane. I loved working on it, each feather of each wing was a thrill to bring to life. And I am very happy with the final result. By now you must know about my obsession with wings and feathers and angels, so this was a real joy to work on. I’m happy I brought out my watercolours again. It has been a long while since I used them. I had forgotten how much I love painting, hehe. It is raining here today, and all the snow has turned into mud. There is mud everywhere. Today will be a day of herbal teas and films in my room, haha. What are some artists you really look up to and love? Artists whose work speaks to you on a profound level? I would love to know. Until the next crane, have a wonderful weekend! #origami #paperart #angelarium #azrael #angel #wings #feathers #petermohrbacher #watercolor #watercolour #scary #dark #icarusmidair #cristianmarianciuc

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Cristian Marianciuc

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1 thought on “This Origami Enthusiast Spent Each Day Creating A New Origami Paper Crane for 1000 Days”

  1. Pingback: Book folding – research, 14-2-2023 – Lindadavey1

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