On the way home from the Doctor, I chanced upon a sign outside a re-purposed Scout den just up from the road from me. I googled it, as you do “Wellers Hill Arts Hub” and discovered, to my delight, that one of the member groups was Queensland Papermakers and Artists.
I contacted the president, via email, and was invited to the first meeting this year. How wonderful – a room full of talented artists, all passionate paper makers and me, someone who wants to learn how to make paper and fold the handmade sheets – huge potential. Continue reading
921 Leong Chen Chit’s 20 Intersecting Cubes
When I first saw this modular, it broke my brain, but knew I wanted to fold it. I looked and looked for instructions and finally reached out to Leong Chen Chit, through connections to Sydney Origami Group on fakebook:
Units for this model are folded from an ‘almost’ half a4 sheet, through an ingenious geometric construction you get a fan fold that can then be mutated into the basic unit. Continue reading
920: Koala – A Possible Travel Fold
As I am about to embark on more world travel (see travelblog), I am on the lookout for a fold I can leave in each of the places we stay. Oddly, it is something I do, often hiding little Australiana figures in out of the way places, to hopefully provide delightful surprises for subsequent guests:
Oddly, the very best Koala designs do not come from Australian designers at all, but from places that do not have them. This lovely design is designed by Mindaugas Cesnavicius, a talented folder from Lithuania. Continue reading
919: Floral Perpetua by Dasa Severova
I am always on the lookout for interesting folds, this one was shared on a fakebook group as a photsequence on Flickr:
A fun folding technique, and a fascinating fractal pattern gradually converges towards the centre of the original octagon. Continue reading
Hydrangea Bookmarks
As I relax from the 365 challenge, I am finally getting the need to fold again:
Fractal folding is relaxing and yet challenging, Shuzo Fujimoto’s Hydrangea fractal seems to be able to be tessellated also.
In these 2 folds I experimented with different densities of repeat, discovering that accuracy matters – a fraction of a millimeter initially magnifies as the folding progresses. Continue reading
918: Procrastination Panda
Now if we were looking for a mascot for procrastination, I think a panda is the perfect animal because, well, from all accounts, they just couldn’t give a flying f*ck:
It seems they are endangered. My guess is it is due to them losing interest in most things (except eating bamboo) including sex – a real deal breaker genetically speaking I would imagine. Continue reading
917: Triangular Mouse
It is a little known fact that mice used to originally be triangular – the closer to a right angle triangle, the more genetically successful apparently*:
This charming model is designed by Makoto Yamaguchi, a quirky fold that I found when browsing Tanteidan 106. Continue reading
916: Zhen Xian Bao (Traditional Chinese Thread and Needle Book)
Interestingly, paper folding developed independently in most countries that made paper. In China, traditional folding included objects like this:
This is a modern interpretation of a Zhen Xian Bao – a traditional thread case. Even cursory research on teh interwebs reveals astonishing combinations of these little compartments, nested in other compartments.
This fold was designed by Paula Versnick, and has 7 separate compartments of varying size, that all lock together into a charming little book. Continue reading
18 things I learned from the 2017 365 Challenge
People think a 365 challenge is all beer and skittles, well there was a number of things I learned this time through that might be worthy of reflection.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CfJilbZ0JQZzDvte8aF6CoEKgfTOZP97QJxIe7F-6f4/edit?usp=sharing
What follows is a lengthy rant, strap yourself in if you are game: Continue reading
915: (365/365) Chris K Palmer’s “Flower Tower”
I have a long and terrifying “fold me” list of models I will one day get around to – this was on it:
An excruciating fractal tessellation that eats paper like few other folds, based on spiral collapses of a dodecagon that then gets turned inside out to make the next level to collapse.
The unfold and re-collapse stages (I did 3, but theoretically could keep going getting smaller and smaller) looks like it is going to hell in a handbasket, then it sort of just sorts itself out in a magic sort of way. Continue reading
914: (364/365) Cartoon Rabbit
Riccardo Foschi has a magic sense of design in his models, and this cartoon rabbit is a real charmer:
As an exercise in box pleating, this model takes a 12 x 24 square grid and, via a. Are fully designed collapse teases arms, legs, tummy and detailed head while providing enough paper to model those features in a fun way. Continue reading
913: (363/365) When you wish upon a Star …
So when I asked for suggestions on what to fold, Janet suggested a Starfish which prompted me to try Riccardo Foschi’s model:
Made from a pentagon, a lovely little fold that has some charming qualities. Continue reading
912: (362/365) Abandon Ship!
As the year 2017 swiftly comes to an end, after seemingly being in a hurry to do so all year, it is almost time to abandon ship:
Time for one last waltz, one more visit to the buffet, perhaps a cigar on the poop deck then it is lifejackets on and over the side into the icy uncertainty of the new year. Continue reading
911: (361/365) Tiny Teddy
There are many bears out there in the origami design community, and I have folded most of them:
This is Robyn Glynn’s “Teddy”, a charming bi-color fold that looks cuddly and seems quite poseable. Continue reading
910: (360/365) After Christmas Sales
Retailers really have a nerve when you think about it. Right up to Christmas they hike up their prices. We dutiful drones pay top dollar for loot which we wrap and give away. Come “Boxing Day” prices plummet in almost obscene ways and it can get hectic as people clamber for bargains:
We went early, with a list and an idea of what we would regularly pay for the items on that list. In, bought (from the then still full shelves and racks), and out again in an hour and a half – this is the stuff of legends. Continue reading