So when invigilating, you cannot mark or do anything that productively uses the time, so sometimes I choose a simple but repetitive fold that I can do without looking anywhere but in the direction of students being examined:
This is Michal Kosmulski’s “Oxi” module – an interesting variation of Tom Hull’s “Phiz” unit. Continue reading
Looking for today’s fold, I returned to a collection of bookmarked models from my growing collection of Tanteidan magazines:
Made of 4 tetrahedral modules, each with deep tabs along a pair of adjacent sides, you then fold a pair of interlocking preliminary bases as the core. Continue reading
Speaking of fractals, as I was (well, kinda sorta) I realised I had never tried the Fujimoto Hydrangea fold before:
This is an interesting thing, with each iteration folded inside the previous – in theory you can keep folding this infinitely. In reality the tryanny of paper thickness and fat clumsy fingers stops you. Continue reading
Browsing a MiniNeo eZine that I follow, I noticed a rather interesting looking hexagonal flower and thought it worth a try:
You triangle grid a hexagon into 16ths, then put a hex twist in the middle, then add the swing-back on petals and tidy up the tessellation to make a swirl. Continue reading
Asked by a colleague whether I still do rose folding commissions, I lied and said “sure”, realising this was the opportunity to learn something new:
Working my way through Naomiki Sato’s book “Rose”, I had never tried his “Simple Rose” until this point. Continue reading
A Masu (or box) was traditionally square and used to measure rice in Japanese kitchens. These days, masu are typically used to sip Sake out of:
Having mastered David Brill’s Square Masu, I thought it time to try the pentagonal one. Apparently the pentagonal masu exists only in Origami circles – this makes sense as the woodworking skill necessary to make this in timber breaks my brain.
Page division into 6ths (to allow overlap/join) then gentle faceting and a magic corner hinge joint results in a lovely 3d shape that feels like it has volume.
I used thickish paper and found some of the internal collapses tough work to make them behave and sit tidily but overall it is a fin fold because you really have to think through how it works before trying the collapse.
I quite like the apparent simplicity of this design:
Folded from a square split on the 1/3 line, larger piece making the base, smaller for the lid, this ingenious design neatly makes a moneybox, coin slot and all. Continue reading
Topologically convoluted geometric modulars confuse the brain – shapes that morph into different shapes in stable but seemingly unpredictable ways are fascinating:
This is a wedge-flex – a modular hinged construction of a series of triangular prisms (wedges) that fold, bend, twist and re-align in interesting configurations. Continue reading
I am seriously attempting to perfect the “rose” form in Origami. In my mind, there is no better master of this flower than Naomiki Sato:
I bought his book (and DVD) entitled “Rose” and am determined to work though the various forms presented therein.
This is called his “first pentagonal rose” and I can see ancestor forms in the one that are also in the one I fold freehand currently. This is essentially a bud, but has a unique spiral centre and a nicely controlled twirl terminating in some lovely little petals. the base is also fully closed. Continue reading
So I was messing with a low-grade triangle grid and what to do with it (I often fold grids to keep my eye in) and came across a rather neat geodesic hemisphere that used a section of it:
So I cut 2 the same size and proceeded to collapse – one fits inside the other and makes a rather lovely icosahedral prism box. Continue reading
I am clearly in the wrong business, if making money is the aim. Being slightly (well, I think it is healthy) obsessed with paper, when a new dealer arrives on the scene I take notice. A colleague asked if I knew of “The Paper Empire” – a new QLD outlet in Newfarm:
I had not heard about them, but visited and found some papers of interest. They are the second outlet in a franchise that has been in Melbourne for a while, and their online shop has some interesting paper products imported from Norway. Continue reading
David Mitchell is a legendary origami designer, responsible for countless geometric wrangles:
This is an “Oyster Box” – a box that resembles a bivalve, that locks together rather satisfyingly and opens to reveal a spacious interior. Continue reading
Busy times indeed – perfect for folding a 12 piece modular:
Fairly simple modules that sit over one, inside another adjacent module, locking fairly positively into swirls of 4 “petals”, you get a shape that describes a cube when you look just at the points. Continue reading
Anyone who has seen any of the “Lord of the Rings/Hobbit” movies will recognise the profile of this hat:
Gandalf the Grey wore a wondrous felt hat like this, Mike Luo’s “Witches Hat”. Continue reading
Long before there were “fidget spinners”, Pokemon and “Pogs” there was a craze that swept me away when it first hit the market. A Hungarian designer called Erno Rubic devised a cube, subdivided up into 3x3x3 cubies that all slid on each other in layers:
I instantly had to have one (well, in truth I had 9, including a triangular, circular and 4x4x4 one that I still have). Continue reading
