In traditional Korean folk painting (Minhwa), cranes and pine trees are often paired together to symbolize longevity and resilience. This subgenre is called Songhakdo - pine (song), crane (hak), painting (do).

pine-crane-painting is a contemporary Korean American rendering of Songhakdo - in oils, instead of Korean paints; on canvas, instead of hanji; with a pine tree branch poking out of a cloud, instead of a full tree grounded in the earth. The cranes are smoking, the smoke morphs with the clouds, and the whole scene is left suspended mid-air, in delicate uncertainty.

As I explore my own artistic heritage, I wonder - is it still a “Korean painting” if it's done in oils, by someone who first learned about Minhwa via Wikipedia?