1162: Zen

There are times when thoughts turn to the complexity of simplicity:

A few simple folds on an eccentric waterbomb base and you end up with a model that encourages deep contemplation, invoking a calm.

This is Pierre-Yves Gallard’s wonderful “Buddhist Monk”, folded simply (if not accurately) from a 15cm square of orange-white kami to simulate the otherwise vibrant saffron robes.

I am always delighted by how few folds it takes to evoke a human form – we seem innately able to recognise “people shaped” things, faces also.

A lovely exercise in restraint – this is my first fold, as I was discovering how to isolate the head and form the robes – I have no doubt subsequent attempts will be an improvement, but real life doesn’t give you a “re-do”, so here it is.

I posed it here with my Vietnamese soapstone dragon behind. The model is free-standing, it has a fold-back tab that makes it pretty stable. I like the the juxtaposition of the meditating monk playing against the hidden dragon in sharp focus, with the background blurring into obscurity.

I wonder if paper is folded in the forest and there is no one there to see it, does it remain as origami?

1133: Pelican

Perusing origami books, as you do, I chanced upon a delightful little pelican:

Designed by @tommy03, making use of a beige/white duo 6″ kami square, this delightful model captures the essence of a pelican better than any other I have seen.

“What a wonderful bird is a Pelican – whose beak can hold more than it’s belly can.” – A rhyme my mum used to say to me as a little tacker – hoping to gift this to another mother tomorrow.

Sometimes simple is stunning too.

1019: Mi Wu’s 7 Segment Display

I remember folding another LED display, but cannot remember whose. This is a really efficient use of a single 15cm square to make a fully functional LED-style 7-segment digit:

Mi Wu's 7 segment display

The real skill here is hiding away the colour into flaps arranged symmetrically around the edge of the rectangular piece, so that you can open them out and change what is shown.

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1018: Skull Badge

Continuing my exploration of Mi Wu’s new book “Duo Color Origami”, I present his “Skull Badge”:

Mi Wi Skull Badge

A genius rendition of a skull icon complete with upper set of teeth. I enjoyed the fold sequence so much I folded a second one (to convince myself the first fold was not a fluke).

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1017: Mi Wu’s WTF

I recently got a copy of Mi Wu’s new book “Duo Color Origami” and knew there were models I had to try:

Mi Wi WTF

Colour change is a tricky thing, designing to deliberately form patterns with the reverse side of the page is a real skill and Mi Wu seems to have mastered it, his book contains many unique and very challenging models.

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