blah blah blah, about nothing in marticular – may contain traces of aaaarrrggghh
The 365 Project now over, I can concentrate on folding when the mood takes me.
It occurred to me that Origami creates ephemeral artefacts – short lived, made of materials not designed to last:
I am playing with a name change – the intention of this blog to document origami I have tried remains the same, but the one a day pressure is now gone and I can branch out and use more appropriate materials than plain copy paper.
Established habits take time to break – even positive ones that have just run their course:
I woke early this morning (partly because of the second howling of the “wolf alarm” next door) and partly because a nagging, insistent NEW voice in my head (yes, count them, there are now 13 – a bakers’ dozen) told me to get up and get on with my fold for the day.
Without thinking, I cut a square and … sat and looked at it … for ages.
A blank square, like a person, is surrounded in boundless potential. I can see the 8 legs and ribbed thorax, imagine the swivels necessary to raise a sail, lament the accordion pleating necessary to shape a hoof, anticipate the stress that a common vertex will experience and know when to nurse the brittle paper through that difficult last bend before the collapse, ready my still bruised finger tips for the tough folds through many layers to reveal ….
… something other than a plain, flat, square.
Today’s fold is no fold at all – there is a Zen beauty in that – if a tree falls on a mime in the forest will anyone care … sort of thing.
Do not panic, I will not abandon you, my fold following fans – it has been a fun ride, great to have had you along but I am a little saddle sore right now so might just take a breather … if I can get that 13th voice to speak a little quieter that is, because at the moment she is screaming hysterically at me, but she will eventually calm down, I am sure.
POSTSCRIPT:
Lindy, a friend, suggested the page is calling for some words, she offered a poem she wrote, it is lovely, here it is:
…perfect, thanks Lindy.
December done and WOW, what a huge month this has been. Because this month corresponded with my holidays, I sunk some extra time into some amazing (and a little dizzying if I am honest) models.
This table full of bent paper represents a quantum leap in my skill set – most of these models I could NOT have done at the beginning of the challenge.
I have learnt a lot about myself over the past 12 months, and spent inordinate amounts of time enthusiastically bending paper – even when there were many things much more important to do.
Some of these models will soon have new homes, some not – you get that. I thank most sincerely those that have encouraged me along the way – sometimes that was the difference between giving up and keeping going.
I am proud to say that I did not miss a day, had a total of only 9 model fails (in 365, that is an amazing hit rate) and now have an arsenal of paper bending skills that I can use moving forward … to whatever – yeah, cannot imagine what yet but I am sure something will turn up.
I hope you have enjoyed the ride. It will not end here – I will keep folding, but do not expect one a day, or necessarily one a week – I will just let it happen and we shall see. This blog will remain, I will keep adding to it, but might change the name – suggestions that encapsulate paper ephemerata would be appreciated.
You better watch out. You better not cry
Better not pout, I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
.
He’s making a list. And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who’s naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
This is a David Brill tableau, scaled down to teeny weeny because … well, because … because I could? I have a packet of shiny small origami paper so used that for the micro-reindeer – they sort of determined the scale for the remainder of the figures.
There is much to like about this festive scene – The sleigh is full of water bombs (the perfect summer gift), Santa sits, the reindeer seem animated and Rudolph has a lovely red nose, courtesy of a suggestion from “she who must be obeyed” to use a glass headed pin – good call.
I hope this post finds you enjoying family, fun and festive cheer. Our Christmas Origami display is as you see it here – most of these models are available for you in the auction house for a limited time only.
So I was putting up the tree again this year and remembered we had nothing to put atop it:
I remembered an “angel” designed originally by Neal Elias, reworked by gabriel Vong that I had put in the “must try this sometime” pile, so set about folding it.
A nice figurative angel, hands clasped in prayer, lovely wings and a nifty gusset at the back to allow you to insert some foliage at the pointy end of your tree.
You should try this, it is actually fairly straight forward. I had a sheet of gold metallic paper (but wrapping paper would make the fold even easier) and bent it laboriously (it was almost card, so the folds around the hands, shoulders etc were hard going – thank goodness for fingernails as my finger tips are bruised and sore from the continued 365 onslaught).
Atop the tree she is lovely – this is an A4-cut square, prolly a little big for our small tree but ideal for a larger one.
The “monthly modular” is something that would be suitable for hanging on a christmas tree that YOU could make along with me:
This is an Urchin Star, designed by Martin Sejer Andersen with the folding sequence videoed by Jo Nakashima here. I have made a cutting pattern that requires you to print it out on A4 paper twice – you can download that here: print-me-twice.
You need 30 modules, but they are easy to fold, taking no time each once you get into the zone, and they slot together really easily (certainly the easiest assembly of ALL my modulars so far) – even with fat, clumsy fingers like mine.
You should make these – they are lovely – if you use paper coloured on one side, the tips of the star are white, which is pretty also. Wrapping paper would work well – some of the thicker foil-based paper would work well indeed (not that thin plasticised stuff tho, it does not take folds at all)
Have fun with this – totally try it and post your result as a photo on facebook for me to see how it went please.
November has been another HUUUUUGE month, and I have not taken the easy road – some of this month’s models have been down right snarly and challenging, taking way more time than I had, really.
ONE MONTH TO GO. I am excited, hope you are too, there is a great ride ahead and the start of the paper auctions to begin raising money for Red Cross and Medicine Sans Frontiers.
I have grown to respect a number of designers of all nationalities and Fernando Gilgado from Spain is one who is guaranteed to produce a challenging model:
This is the Demon, and the devil in the details, trust me – his head alone is frightening – 2 sets of horns, beard, snarly mouth, eyes etc. His body is very dense, arms and legs 20+ layers of paper but that bunching results in the most splendid wings and a pointy demonic tail.
This instruction set was a real challenge – apart from folding it during school time (in between end of year report checking and tidying up), the instructions were in Spanish, and some aspects of it were very fiddly indeed. Even at 54cm x 54 cm, the head and facial features were too small to fold tidily, still, as a first fold I am very pleased with this. It is a monster, wing span of nearly 30cm and he looks very menacing – in a cutey sort of way.
I thought the “angels” of yesterday needed some “demons” today to bring some sort of balance to the paper cosmos. A suitable end of my second last month of this challenge.
There is something I have learned about Australian paper money – it is NOT paper and it does not want to be folded. So I entered a little bit of a counterfeitting mode and made some paper money out of images and paper:
This is a billfold – one of HUNDREDS of models designed to be folded with an American $1.
Many are intricate and detailed, this one is merely figurative and works on many conceptual levels – making money work, making dollars with dollars etc.
I wonder what “greenbacks” are like to fold – the paper must be pretty strong to survive circulation and for there to be so many designs devoted to the medium I imagine it folds pretty well.
I miss paper money, I miss lower denomination coinage – as we jettison it, prices go up, value goes down, inflation goes crazy and exchange rates go through the roof.
A wise man once said that there is much unhappiness in the world because people spend most of their lives chasing little bits of coloured paper – this is odd because, on the whole, those bits of paper are not the least bit unhappy. DNA, I miss you.
Synchronicity happens – i was asked by my lovely wife if I could make an origami xmas tree – I said I would have a look, and did – there were lots to choose from but then came a posting on the British Origami Society mailing list with possibly the best design of them all:
Designed by Francesco Guarnieri, demoed by Sara Adams here, this beautiful modular is a very clever design. Sure, it is a little labour intensive but wow!
Held in shape by paper tension, lovely pendulous layers interlock and sit atop a snarly trunk, each tree probably takes about an hour and a half but it is a thing of beauty.
I made 4 – naturally. One for the lady in the print room (one of my paper dealers), one for the library (then the TL asked where the angel was – she did not realise I was obsessive compulsive so I folded 4 small gold Brill angels) and 2 for the counter of my wife’s office.
Very happy with these, they look wonderful from all angles and are suitably festive as we creep ever so closer to holidays.
…so here’s what I am thinking, right.
I have all these models – HUNDREDS of them, and rather than burn them (as my psychologist recommends) or let them gather dust at my place or throw them away I thought I would sell them for charity.
Some models are extremely beautiful, some complex and interesting, others classically simple and elegant but I have very little space to keep them so I thought that sharing the love was a good plan. There are some models I cannot bear to part with, sorry. This is NOT a commercial sale, as I am not the copyright owner of most of the models, this is a CHARITY ACTION.
Charities that will benefit directly are Australian Red Cross (particularly for their foreign aid programs) and Medicine san Frontiers – sharing the love is important, right? ALL proceeds will be channelled to these aid agencies, the joy I have had in this project is folding the models in the first place – enough wonder and awe wonder for one person.
WANT TO HELP?
Stay tuned, details on what you can do to OWN a unique bit of my 365 Project and more importantly support these great causes will be released here.
BROWSE the model list (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjCUWfazDAWDdGhsTmlWVGtTemIzc2U3eFhlcXBjNVE#gid=0) and check out what they look like in the DeviantArt Gallery (http://neubauten.deviantart.com/gallery/28292036 ) and when the time comes GET IN EARLY to avoid disappointment.
Naturally I will also take orders/requests(for re-folds with the same direction of monies – these aid organisations deserve our support – you get something beautiful and do something beautiful as well – WIN WIN.
When I first folded Tadashi Mori’s Celtic Cross I knew it would come in handy, being that it is a part of the symbology of my College:
My year 12s (well, I call them mine, they were the leaders in my tutor Group – a lovely bunch of chaps) had their last day of classes today so I thought it a good idea to mark the occasion with cards – naturally they would feature origami.
Hope they liked them.
“Once upon a time, boys and girls, people used to use hand-held ink dispensing rods to make marks on flat sheets of manufactured plant fibre, fold them, place them inside an envelope of the same material, write a distant geospatial reference on one side, their own geospatial reference on the other. They would then pay for a coloured sticky icon and then hand this package over to a corporation that used to exist solely for the carrying and dispensing of such message envelopes” the old story teller said. The assembled children gasped in amusement, then vlogged about the experience collaboratively via the ether.
Snail mail, you remember that – I like the idea of air mail – this sort of letter has a Terry Pratchett, Discworld sort of feel to it.
Designed by Hojyo Takahashi, this delightful model is just what it says on the label.
Happy with this as a first fold.
On the 4th of November 1922, almost by accident, a water carrier for Howard Carter stumbled across what looked like a step. They had all but given up hope of finding the legendary tomb of Tutankhamun but, on digging they discovered another, and another. By the 6th of November they had uncovered a sealed entrance to a tomb that bore the elusive cartouche of the boy king and so began one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of our time.
I admire an explorer that showed such great restraint – rather than rush is, as he was being urged to do, he covered up the entrance and went away, re-mounted an exploration mission 26 days later to actually open the tomb and painstakingly uncover and catalogue in-situ such wonderful things that belie imagination. 
Having made a mask yesterday, I thought I would try another, and what better than a figurative representation of that famed gold and precious stone-inlayed death mask for the boy-king. I have seen this mask when it toured our city museum – it is breathtaking.
Scale was an issue here – it could have been made from an A4-cut square, but I could not tell how much was tucked away so made it from A3. I like that it hints at a snake in the headdress, the beard and overall proportions are nice. With time and a little patience I dare say you could fashion facial features – there is certainly enough paper there to do so.
Happy with this as a first fold – I could do a month of masks, there are lots of designs and a plethora of approaches to origami mask making – maybe that is for another day.
Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot…
As a kid I remember cracker night – well in truth, it was cracker week because you could buy fireworks and we used to spend the week blowing things up. In retrospect, all that messing around with gunpowder was really dangerous, but apart from some occasional superficial burns and the odd scorched letterbox we came to no real harm.
I am generally not a fan of Natalie Portman – the Star Wars prequels put me off a lot but she has been outstanding in a couple of subsequent movies – “Black Swan” and “V for Vendetta” for example. This is “V”, the psychopath in the Guy Fawkes mask and I am pretty happy with the result.
Designed by Brian Chan, it is an exercise in restraint, as you have a black/white paper and fold all the black inside, then, later, carefully reveal tiny hints of it – very clever design actually. you get eyes, a rather splendid nose, pencil moustache and goatee in a lovely mask shape, nice.
You can have a go for yourself – it is fairly easy and totally appropriate for Guy fawkes day
