Assignment time can sometimes be boring for a teacher, especially when kids are beavering away independently:
This is a tessellation I have not tried before. Based on a square grid, diagonal squares rotate 45 degrees to lie flat again, causing pleat ripples that are cancelled out by adjacent twists – clever. Continue reading
I have been a fan of Talking Heads pretty well as long as it was possible to be one. “Burning down the house” remains one of the great songs of all time:
This is Martin Wall’s “Matchbox”, an ingenious model folded from a single, much tortured, piece of paper. A lovely little life-size matchbox, folded from a 50x17cm rectangle (3×1), it comprises an outer tray and a movable tray that slides open and closed. Continue reading
…a little known fact, up until the night of the day this fold was supposed to be folded (last night if I am honest, missed a day, catching up, sorry) I had NEVER watched a Rugby match. Ever:
So I was over at a mates place, we were supposed to be playing a board game but apparently State of Origin was on, so they watched and I did too. Continue reading
Trolling through the interwebs, as you do, you oft come across things that you save for later:
This “Little Bear” is a simple model (I have little time today) that I had saved for later but do not know who the designer is, sorry. Continue reading
…little ball of fur! Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr purr purr:
When I saw this model, I was fascinated by the whiskers, and wondered if I could fold it at the scale I had origami paper for.
After finger-nail breaking manipulations, I managed to form the head complete with colour changed whiskers and was happy with my first fold. Continue reading
I must admit to enjoying the challenge that is inherent in most of Robert Lang’s designs:
When the Tanteidan magazine arrived, I saw there was a new version of his cicada, and I knew I needed to try it.
Starting with a 35cm square of Daiso washi (that turned out to be slightly rhombic problematically), I began the marathon folding sequence. Continue reading
Tomoko Fuse is a living legend in the Origami Community, her designs are numerous, intricate, ingenious and challenging to fold:
This is a 12 part modular with double-locks, frilly bits and framed holes in each face. Continue reading
Scratching around for something to fold, I stumbled across a 2-part modular that I had filed in the “must try” pile:
LED displays are part of my past, little blocky symbols that were all the rage before screens went pixels and graphical. Continue reading
Jono sent me a link to the new trailer for the coming series of Game of Thrones:
Seems like big things are set to happen in the seven kingdoms.
Knights in shining armor in this series are rarely shiny at all, often dirty, lacking honor and glory – such is the reality of war. Continue reading
So it is Wednesday, ‘Hump Day‘:
Silly season in the assessment calendar, lots happening and a 2do list from hell.
This is Eduardo Clemente’s ‘Camel’ – a dromedary or bactrian (who knows the difference?) Continue reading
I was reading a paper on Ladybirds, and it turns out they have remarkable wings. What makes them truly remarkable is they fit beneath tiny cup-shaped hard wing covers. Until recently, scientists had no idea how that mechanism worked:
When ladybirds are about to take off, they lift their wing covers and then inflate complicated pleated wings that flip out from their zig-zag folded position.
When they land, they put their wing covers down first then retract their wings under them. This mechanism is bewildering until you look at an origami maquette which explains the natural zig zag hinge. Continue reading
Looking around for a chess board in origami was fun, there seem to be a few out there, including a few that use only 1 sheet of paper and a million creases to perform the necessary colour changes for the squares:
I discovered I could not source paper large enough to make a playable chess board, so looked for alternatives and stumbled across Joseph Wu’s modular chessboard. Continue reading
Head of the house, monarch to be protected, fragile and nearly the least mobile, such is a Chess King:
I like this model, the crown is cute, as is his beard and robes – hiding the round figure of a largely sedentary piece. Continue reading
Behind every good man there is often an even better woman:
The Queen in chess is a valuable piece, being the master of all skills, often the most deadly of opponents. Continue reading
…so, in a conventional chess set, the knight is a horsey, but in this chess set the Knight is the rider:
Not sure I am really happy with this, difficult to tell with this thick paper, but the head shaping is clumsy because of the layers. Continue reading
