"At the end of 2013, I saw a stunning NHK documentary about the mating rituals of Manchurian cranes in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost large island, which takes place at night and in the early spring, where there it is still snowbound. The birds dance and display to each other as part of this mating ritual, and the documentary inspired this diptych of prints in 2014, done in reduction technique using a single woodblock for the image; another was used for the text and my circular seal. The very palest blue shades were printed first, then bit by bit I carved away and printed darker and darker, all from the same block. Of all the reduction prints I’ve made, this pair demanded the most careful planning, to be sure to leave the wood in place for the darkest details like the legs, and to save the area to print the cranes’ red caps." Binnie, 2022
![Paul Binnie “Moonlight Dance [left]” artwork](https://binniecatalogue.com/artwork/moonlight-dance-left/paul-binnie-moonlight-dance-left.jpg)