BFA: Timeless Tales

Timeless Tales: Folktales from Around the World

This is it, I am graduated. With the completion of this project I officially finish my time as an Illustration student at Brigham Young University. Below is a brief description of the project, and you can also find the links to every story after that. My show will be up for three weeks in the Harris Fine Arts center on Brigham Young University campus.

I decided to focus the theme of my show on folktales from different countries around the world. I chose seven different regions from around the world and chose one group of people to read stories from; Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, South Africa, Russia, and Japan. There were so many stories to choose from, but I decided to focus on stories that were visually appealing to me. Maybe I should have focused it a lot more than that, but it turned out working out well for me. I love stories. I love to read the intricate details contained in each and every story that I read. I get invested in the stories, I want the characters to succeed in their endeavors. I learned a lot about the basics of storytelling, and even though these stories seem simple at first, they really do hold eternal truths in their words.


The folktale is a story, passed down verbally from
generation to generation. Each storyteller told
the stories a little differently, making them more
interesting as the ages passed. Different folktales bear the
characteristics of the culture, folklore and customs
of the people from which they originated. We can learn
about different cultures by studying their folktales, and the
more we know and understand about each other, the easier
it becomes to empathize with those who at first glance
would seem very different from ourselves. But we are
not so different as we at first appear to be. It is through
stories that we learn what people value: love, learning,
family, kindness, gratitude, and happy endings.

“And those who think that the legends here
recorded are childish and frivilous, may rest
assured that they bear on questions which could not
themselves be called either childish nor frivilous.
So, however silly a legend may be thought, let him
who knows such a legend communicate it to somebody
who will place it on record; he will probably find that it
has more meaning and interest than he had
anticipated.”
-Unknown

Prince Ivan and the Firebird - a Russian fairytale
Jabu and the Lion - a Zulu tale
The Grateful Crane - a Japanese folktale
The Little Frog in the Stream - a Quechua folktale
East of the Sun, West of the Moon - a Norwegian fairytale
Maui and Mahuika - a Maori legend
Diarmuid and Grainne - an Irish Celtic Myth