An odd tradition I have inherited is to say “white rabbits” as the first thing uttered at the beginning of a month, hence the inspiration of today’s model:Not real sure where that came from, or why a sane, rational adult would do that, but it is ingrained and part of my monthly ritual. This model […]
We visited Cape Otway Lighthouse, there in the underbrush was a small, wet rabbit – very cute, so I thought it would be a good model to make. Difficult (and I had to cheat with a cut to make the 2 lobes of the ears) – might search out another rabbit model that does not […]
I fell down an internet rabbit hole and stumbled across a Graeme Norton interview of Benedict Cumberbatch who, during a nature documentary commentary seemed singularly unable to say the word “penguin”: I was approached by fellow Aussie origami designer Gary Fonarik to test his ‘Fairy Penguin” diagram. I fired up a 15cm blue/white square and […]
Coupled to 8OSME, RMIT Design Hub is currently hosting an exhibition of important origami works called “Future Folds”. The opening event featured a panel discussion with Tomoko Fuse and Robert J Lang. Panel discussions can be wonderful if the alchemy is right – the right combination of guests and questions. I am not sure we […]
Francesco Massimo sent me a diagram, out of the blue, for me to try – such an honour: I have labelled it a “Danger Noodle” – it is an Eastern Dragon, but it looks way too playful to be dangerous. Folded as a set of nested rabbit-ears straddling a central pleated gusset, the structure is […]
Insects seem to be a fascination among origami designers – at the height of “bug wars” when designers were competing for the most intricate designs that were complex, had lots of legs, were thin and realistic renderings and really pushed the boundaries of existing techniques: This astonishing model starts as a frog base. Through a […]
I went looking for something reptilian to fold today (not sure why) and found this little charmer designed by Marc Vigo: Using a series of rabbit ears on a 2×1 rectangle, you isolate legs, head and tail rather cleverly.
Old-school origami can still be fun, and this model is no exception: Eduardo Clemente’s book “Papiroflexia” contains a plethora of old-style 60’s origami, before the boxpleating, tree-maker days.
A model I had mastered as a child was the only Peacock I had seen folded until fairly recently: This is Edwin Corrie’s Peacock, a magic little model that makes a tight efficient little body out of one corner of the square leaving lots of paper for the fan-shaped tail.
Much of Origami is algorithmic (algorithm = procedural solution to a problem). A rabbit ear is an algorithm, one knows how to fold it on a corner – double rabbit ear is the same solution, folded two simultaneously. Petal fold is also a standard maneuver which got me thinking of the Sato Rose algorithm. I […]
Sometimes I just need to fold, it is difficult to explain but I find great clarity in wrestling with complex geometry. We ALL have much to learn GRASSHOPPER. Having bought Robert Lang’s “Origami Insects Volume 2” I thought it was high time to fold something from it. Lang’s models are great technical exercises, amazing manipulations […]
The crowd gasped and applauded enthusiastically at the task do deftly performed by the seal on display. The seal sighed, feeling that the humans watching it were easily amused and so concentrated on the mathematics of parabolic hyperflexion and existential philosophy to pass the time until the next fish was tossed her way: This is […]
I thought I would try something simpler, so found what looked like a mostly harmless little Llama model designed by Jim Adams: On paper, this model was straight forward – in practice however the thickness of layers at the tail end made this model impossible to fold using copy paper (I tried, breaking one of my own […]
I find it interesting that time seems to pass so much slower when you are doing something you really do not enjoy: My “Theory of Temporal Perception” explains that time like that which crawls past during an exam supervision, say, is noticed minute by minute, tick by tock. This is a cute action model – […]
Now all responsible adults are prepping the the imminent visit of the Easter Bunny. This little box is perfect for collecting the spoils of an easter egg hunt (so should be made in advance to avoid disappointment): Clever use of paper, pockets, easy to fold and actually very bunny-like. A square cut from an A4 page […]
