Luds is taking some leave, we all wish him well. I was approached to see if I could come up with some bent paper as an ooroo gift – this is what I ended up with:
In this shadowbox, we see our favourite “bad santa” clutching a Chemistry book, in front of his beloved Electronic White Board, pen in hand.
This little chap, a Joisel-inspired Dwarf took a while to emerge from the page, but I am happy with this little diorama and I hope it beings a smile to Lud’s face – take care mate.
Joined at the wing, this pair of Tsuru (traditional Cranes) was folded from a single sheet split nearly in half:
Taken from “Hiden Senbazuru Orikata (The Secret of One Thousand Cranes Origami)” published in 1797. It is part of a series I hope to tackle…
The trick is to not tear it as you fold it – the paper tension at the split is tenuous, so requires a gently, deft touch. Continue reading
Browsing the internet, as you do, I came upon a chance find of an amazing archive of pages from what is thought to be the oldest Origami book published – “Hiden Senbazuru Orikata (The Secret of One Thousand Cranes Origami)”, first published in 1797:
Looks like i have a new project, making Tsuru (traditional Cranes) in multiples on a single (cut) sheet – looks like it is going to be a fascinating ride.
Doodling with a single uncut A3 sheet, I managed to fold something approaching both masks of the Drama “Comedy and Tragedy” thing
Using a Joisel-like face thing twice, I think this model has potential as it uses one piece of paper to realise the whole enchilada. Continue reading
People who know me understand my obsession with folding. It is so easy to turn up my procrastination engine to 11 by asking me about the “possibility” of a commission or fold for a purpose:
MJ approached me AGES ago (I have been sitting on this post for 2+ months) and asked if I could fold something to brighten up a wall in Nikki’s workroom. Having just folded some sunflowers I figured they would look nice in a shadowbox frame. Continue reading
Continuing my exploration of some of Eric Gjerde’s introductory tessellations, I liked the look of a square-twist based weave:
Sitting on a square grid, off-set squares are added to near diagonals and twist to collapse and lay flat again. The front side then is a jumble of rolling squares but when you flip it over to the waste side a lovely weave pattern has been made as a side effect of the surface twisting. Continue reading
After leafing through Eric Gjerde’s “Origami Tessellations” I knew I had found the motherload of paper punishment:
This is the “Pinwheel” tessellation and it has a hidden beauty. I am learning that a tessellation is a regular repeating pattern, magically interlocking “molecules” that go together like tiles on a mosaic floor.
Usually based on a grid (at least initially), this one is based on a triangle grid, and features closed hexagon twists and open triangle twists that compliment each others vertices very neatly. Backlit they reveal an intense and curious but often completely different geometry. Continue reading
Folding is something I do, often to stave off boredom. When my students are working on assignments, I get large slabs of time where I need to be there but am not needed, so I bend paper relentlessly:
Folding grids is painstaking, but excellent discipline – accuracy is the key Continue reading
Manfred von Richthofen, AKA “The Red Baron” flew a TRIPLANE – I know, right! Now a Triplane makes no sense to me, but using it, von Richthofen shot down his last 19 enemy planes, and subsequently crashed himself (you win some, you lose some):
I have lost count of the times students have asked if I can fold a paper plane. It turns out I can fold one with quite a level of detail, but not one that flies. Continue reading
Many beauties reside in Eric Joisel’s folding legacy, most have no hints as to how he achieved them. The “Horse Head” design exists as an obscured crease pattern from his original notes:
A friend of this blog (Hi Jean-Baptiste!) offered his interpretation of the crease pattern and invited me to try folding it as he was having trouble with the collapse, so I thought why not. I need all the practice I can get on interpreting CPs. Continue reading
I am always on the lookout for something to keep my hands busy in the boring bits of the day. At the moment, many of my classes are doing assignment work, when they do not need assistance, rather than sit idle I fold:
This “Star Twirl Torus”, designed by Yuri Shumakov, was a bit of a mistake – I must learn to read the fine print (you know, the bit that says “now repeat this 196 times”) – facepalm.
A simple module, 6 of which interlock to form an overlapping hexagonal star that is part of a twirl that keeps going. I sourced 6 different colours, sort of spectrum-themed and began to fold. Continue reading
When trolling through the Spanish Origami Society website (as you do), I came upon a set of hand-drawn diagrams for a dragon. Designed by Francisco Ramon Navarro Sanchez, I thought it was worth a go for the designer’s beautiful name, if nothing else:
Made from many bits of paper, taken from A4 sheets, it ends up being a bit of paper lego with a shape I recognised from a meme first inflicted on me by some students years ago – “Trodgor The Burninator”
Few Origami models reach Iconic status, few have the charm and grace of Eric Joisel’s Pangolin. I thought I would have a go at this fold:
Based, in part, on a field of diagonal graduated pleats that are “popped” into scaley plates, shaped simply to suggest tail, head and feet, his folds have a unique life breathed into them. Continue reading
When asked by a friend of my son’s if were possible to fold something to celebrate their fist wedding anniversary, which coincidentally is the “Paper” anniversary, I thought why not:
The couple are dragon fans, so it seemed obvious to include something from that world. I looked around for something that would present in a shadow box, and dismissing immediately the suggestion that “a ryujun would be nice”, I settled on a pair of Darkness Dragon IIs, designed by Tadashi Mori. Continue reading
I often fold for relaxation and therapy, this design “Gargoyle” by Alessandro Beber is a fold I took up to keep my mind busy during some tough times near Easter:
I find folding calming, and I started this to keep mentally busy as my Dad got sicker and sicker in hospital. He passed before I completed it and for weeks I put the paper aside, the model became associated with that event. Continue reading
