blah blah blah, about nothing in marticular – may contain traces of aaaarrrggghh
It is the days you do not look in your mailbox that mail arrives – I arrived home from work to find an astonishing collection of paper from Pham Hoang Tuan’s origami shop, and a couple of his diagrams, all screaming “fold me!”, so I started that journey:
I had only ever seen this model complete and in CP form, failed at solving that CP 2 times and had given up folding it for now, then it arrived in diagram form to my delight.
Continue readingA few months back, in the relative calm of my summer holidays, I began to re-fold “Harlequin” designed by Eric Joisel, after failing to successfully fold it during the “Tribute of Eric Joisel” competition I was part of late last year:
I took my time, learned lots from initially failing, made sectional maquettes to check techniques and really enjoyed the process of folding.
This model is such a synergy of techniques – I can see influences from so many of Joisel’s other creations (many of which I have folded before). The initial collapse is vaguely humanoid, but the shaping is the making of model. So many details to control. The face and hat are tricksy but I an really happy with the level of detail I managed here – he has a playful but chilled character, smug smile and refined face – the mask is jauntily sitting on his nose also.
The fabric effects to the sleeved and pantaloons are a nightmare – to make them seem to “drape” is really hard I found, but eventually it came together. I pre-creased some quilted effect on the bodice and skirt which I am really happy with, and the collar took me ages to nut out. He is in full stockings (diamond pattern), has goofy shoes, a fly-away in-action wavey cape and open hands – so many bits were there waiting to be shaped. One can only marvel at the genius of the design.
Continue readingFriends are precious, real friendship takes work. The loss of a friend hurts and leaves a yawning void.
Rest now, my dear friend Michael Brent (Dr Winston O’Boogie) O’Donnell 05/01/1954 – 25/01/2021.
One of the things I have had the privilege to be involved in over the past few years is helping the edit process on books produced by Nicholas Terry and origami-shop.com:
In the mail arrived my copy of the 6th such book, and feel a little chuffed to be honest. I help out with diagram tweaking, instruction translation and fixing (English and French), and anything else that comes my way. The work is meticulous but interesting, plays to my computer graphics experience, and is a joy I hope to continue.
What is more, I get to test fold and experience the creativity of some astonishing Origami artists and new works – so cool.
The story of the moment is COVID-19, and the unprecedented effects the global pandemic is having on “business as normal” across the world.
In out little corner of the planet, things continue to be weird. As a teacher, I am still at work, with 1700 boys in a fairly confined space. The current government position is that it is “business as usual” for schools, as we gear up to deliver online learning as part of our “continuity of learning” plan. I want to say I feel good about things, but we all deal with uncertainty our own way.
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