Having recently purchased a bumper pack of 6″ duo paper, I was itching to fold something with it. Given we are in a new wave of Covid-19 (Omicron), I thought a virus-like kusudama was in order:
This is Xander Perrott’s lovely modular design “Minaret”, a 30-piece ball of wonder.
Each piece is based on a 1: root(3) proportioned rectangles, intricately collapsed into beams with tabs/pockets on each end.
Continue readingTo celebrate the release of his lovely new book of modular polyhedra (must get me one), Fergus Currie offered an early morning (for me at least on the opposite side of the planet) workshop on how to fold his second stellation of a cuboctahedron:
I set an alarm, awoke at 1am and folded along with Fergus.
I like this modular a LOT – each vertex is a single piece of paper – it works well with paper that has only one side printed or printer paper. The design is ingenius, the angles odd and exacting but you get into a groove and they make sense in the end.
I went into production line, and using the template to establish the initial odd division, I found that using a fine ball stylus and ruler it was easier to lay in the intermediate creases with the accuracy to make the vertices crisp and accurate.
Once I had 24 units, I then interlocked them in groups of 3 using the narrow tabs and pockets – these interlock really tightly and I could not imagine trying to do these later. I then joined the triples as they tile on longer tab-pocket sets that slide together with a little encouragement. Eventually the units combine to become this wonderful spikey ball with unique geometry.
Continue readingClocking on for another round of procrastigami, I decided to give the first of the “twister” series a go:
This is “Twister A”, designed by Ilan Garibi, a lovely dimensional fold with a final twist to finish it off.
I have folded a few square twists, this one perches a twist on top of the intersection of opposing ridges, contains remarkably few folds on top of the base square grid.
The basic molecule tiles awkwardly – because of the directionality (it forms in a clockwise direction) of the molecule, you have to reverse adjacent molecules if you want them to line up.
Continue readingExploring Ilan Garibi’s lovely book “Origami Tessellations for Everybody”, the next “family” of folds starts off with “Childhood” and then evolves into more of the same:
This is almost a corrugation, as there are nearly no layers overlaying others – the surface treatment is deliciously dimensional, and the distortions are caused by paper tension and torsion of the underlying square-twists.
I started with standard cotton-based photocopy paper (which for me is a LOT like thin Elephant Hide) and laid in a square grid. Both childhood and childhood-evolved use off divisions. I folded a regular division (halves or thirds), then halved until I was close to the required grid sizes, then sliced off unneeded units before laying in the wedge-shaped mountain creases.
Continue readingExploring the rich and intense world of tessellations, I decided it was time to try the second family of folds described in Ilan Garibi’s wonderful book “Origami Tessellations for Everyone”:
This is ‘Red Flower’, the base fold of which there re many variations, but the base molecule is based on a square grid and (for single molecule at least) simple to pre-crease and collapse.
When you scale up, accuracy shows itself as important – slight errors mean that the internal collapses twist the whole sheet out of shape.
Continue readingOur local community Library has display cases, I have more origami models in storage that I can count any more so offered to provide some models for a month or so for a display:
The interesting part of this was selecting a variety of models to demonstrate the breadth of the discipline. The challenge was to select only enough models to fill the small display cases.
I decided on a varied collection of single sheet figures, modulars and old favourites, the mix is eclectic and dizzying.
The exhibit is on display at least until the end of August, possibly longer.
You can go see it at Holland Park Library
Origami designer Fergus Curry shared with me the diagrams for his Rhombic Triacontahedon, I was determined to give it a try:
30 squares in 5 colours, some clever unit folding later and I had the bits needed to construct this little gem. A positive tab-pocket mechanism, some strategic placement of colours and pretty soon you have a lovely sphere made of rhombi. [edit]: A friend (JZag) pointed out this is a D30 (DnD reference there) – nice and nerdy.
Continue readingWhen I saw the folded form I thought there must be some trickery here:
All I had access to is the crease pattern (CP) for this model, and, given I am trying to develop my CP solving skills I thought it fair game to give it a try.
Based on a 16×16 grid, some strategic box pleating and an ingenious colour change we have a classic music stand, 3 shapely legs and a piece of sheet music that is a different colour to the stand – magic.
I like this model a lot – it just sort of coalesced in to a successful model for me, although the first fold was on paper that was same both sides but I could see the potential for colour change and had to fold it in duo paper,
A few years back, I was gifted a portfolio of amazing vintage paisley paper by the Albions. I have held back folding it until I found something that would do it justice:
I pulled a sheet (there are over a dozen different paisleys in the folio), it opened up into a large sheet that I derived a way of dividing it into 30 equal squares – the basis on this kusudama.
This is a stellated dodecahedron, with lovely ridges, pentagonal faces and a wonderfully tactile design. 30 modules, based on 60 degree division, wonderfully deep pockets and positive lock, initially it is easy to put together.
You can have a go yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzeQBFay8NY
Jeannine Mosely is a legend in the modular origami world, and her early morning session was one I hoped to be awake enough to follow:
This nightmare of a model has 12 modules (4 colours, 3 sheets each), and the actual module is really simple (based primarily on a 60 degree corrugation through a fan fold on a 1: root 3 sized paper).
Part of the session was devoted to a neato method of cutting a square down to the correct proportions, a small time in folding the module and the balance in construction, which is a bit of a mind-fuck.
Once you “get” the interleaving, it sort of makes sense, but the shape is not stable until the last colour goes in, making construction really fiddly.
The resultant model is wonderful, and I know I will fold it again (I might choose nicer colours, and perhaps make it a little bigger). Jeannine’s instructions were clear and she has a good common sense presentation style.
On a high from a folding session taught by Sipho Mabona, I wandered virtually out into the virtual conference meeting rooms and sat in on a modular folding session, where I was taught the modules for a “Gear Cube” – 6 modules that make an intriguing structure:
This is designed by Miyuki Kawamura, and I came in half way through an informal folding session, but picked it up fairly quickly.
I will probably fold this again, with bi-colour paper (all the same however) as I suspect the “gear” mechanism might look more interesting if they are all the same colour.
Apparently spontaneous folding sessions are a feature of Origami conferences – I have never been to one so I was delighted that people shared skills at all hours of the day and night – the Zoom/chatroom combination facilitated by “Gathertown” was fabulous.
Keeping my fingers buys, I had it suggested (on Redit) that I should try Tomoko Fuse’s ‘Starsea Kusudama”:
I had not seen this before, the unit is complex and folding it on a 1/4 6″ square was, in retrospect, probably a mistake but I like a challenge.
30 modules later, the construction was fiddly but the locked shape is really sturdy and there is no need for glue – tabs are buried deep in pockets. The last few units are really hard to seat (I needed tweezers to ease them into place) but paper tension causes the ball to become regular.
Continue reading38 years ago, the love of my life said “I do”, wearing antique white lace, in Wanganui Gardens, on the bank of the Brisbane River, among family and friends in glorious sunshine. She did this despite the fact that I was wearing a brown suit, ruffled beige bodyshirt and brown boots – must have been either love, or certifiable lunacy.
Happy Anniversary Jo, love and hugs always.
This is Maria Sinayskaya’s Little Roses Kusudama (squares variant), 30 units – lovely thing indeed.
Each year, as an ice-breaker/getting to know you activity with my pastoral care group at the beginning of a school year I try to involve them in a collaborative origami megastructure:
Many hands made light work of the 90 sonobe modules, folded from Terracey colours (red, black, white). From little things, big things grow, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts (roll out the well trodden metaphors).
The construction has taken an age – 5 false starts until I discovered the module grouping – in the end it turned out to be alternating 5s and 6s on each vertex of each 6. Each sonobe module contributes 1/3 of a pair of adjacent points – and with careful colour planning no 2 colours are beside each other (well, that is nearly the case – in 2 places I was forced to break this rule, but you really have to look to find them).
90 modules take time, and most of the kids in the pastoral care group folded at least one – a true collaboration that results in a lovely spikey ball that will join the other treasures from previous years.
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 reading