Friday, November 23, 2018

My Mother



Masae Sanders (on the right) engaged in the traditional Japanese art of folding cranes



My dad brought photo albums from their Colorado home to their home in Penn Valley so that I could go through and scan them into digital form (I drove up here for Thanksgiving).

I found this one of my mom (on the right) doing origami! We don't know the year, location, or why she was doing it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But there she goes.

My first introduction to origami was when I was 8 years old, vacationing in Japan, as I occasionally did during the summertime.  My cousins started me off with simple sonobe cube box, masu box (I was really into folding nesting boxes- about 50 packed into one!), cranes, and other traditional models.

I folded those on-and-off all through my life into adulthood.  I only discovered modern origami around 1999/2000.



Thursday, November 22, 2018

Stefan Delecat's Crane Box



Crane Box
Designed by Stefan Delecat
Folded by Michael Sanders 
Lid and bottom container each folded from 19.5” x 19.5” square of Chiyogami or Washi paper bonded to foil paper (the lid got really thick on the lip portion).

Source: Tanteidan convention book volume 10







Happy Thanksgiving!





Holiday Roast
Created by Michael Assis
Folded by Michael Sanders
6” x 6” square of Japanese foil paper bonded onto...I don’t know what kind of paper
Tray designed by Mr. Satoshi TAKAGI
4” square of kami
Source: NOA Kessakusen2

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Disaster Relief Ad Counsel commercial featuring dollar origami

Joel Stern recently inquired to the Origami-L about an ad that's been recycled in wake of the California wildfires.

While using the search function for any previous discussions about it on the O-List, I came across an email sent to me by a friend in December of 2012, linking to this upload.  I had replied that it had been a topic of discussion, and sent her this link.  But I don't know where I had previously seen the ad referenced and what the final resolution was. 

Digging further, via Google search, I think I finally solved the mystery of who worked on the ad


Following the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, Friesen worked with Ad Council on an advertisement that featured dollar bills folded into different origami shapes.

More recently, Friesen combined efforts with the Brooklyn studio to fold about 3,000 origami roses in three weeks. The roses were used in an ad campaign for LAIKA animation studios and Focus Features’ stop motion animation film, “Kubo and the Two Strings,” which will be in theaters August 19.
For Friesen, each project is different and an opportunity to learn something new.
“I feel fortunate,” Friesen said, “to have a job that I’m excited about every day.”

Here is Ben Friesen's website.


Saturday Morning Cartoon

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Breaking Standard Laws of Origami


National Geographic:
A group of researchers led by Andres Arrieta, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University, recently published a paper in Science about how earwigs’ wings work. When the team tried to model the unfolding mechanism using a traditional understanding of origami-like folding, it did not compute. The wings simply do not fold like typical well-known materials (think paper) at a single crease.
Instead, Arrieta’s team found that the wings work by possessing spring-like folds, which have two stable configurations. He likens them to slap bracelets, which can stably switch between two different orientations.
Julia Deiters, a researcher at Germany’s University of Duisburg-Essen who recently co-authored a study on the topic, says the wings are also stabilized by folds that are bended, as opposed to straight. These arrange mechanical forces in a way that enables the wings to “lock,” either when they are completely open or folded up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arrieta and others hope to use their insights into the wings’ mechanisms to create mimics in the future. “The wing gave us the recipe to make similar manmade materials,” he says. Such materials could be an invaluable tool with potential applications for making things like quick-assembly tents, portable solar panels, and compact electronics.





Thursday, November 08, 2018

14 years of service!

Today marks the 14th year anniversary of this blog, down to the minute.  I think it's one of the first origami blogs that opened for business; certainly one of the longest lasting ones.   A conservative talk radio host, Hugh Hewitt, was the one who got me into the idea of blogging, in 2004.  Back then, there weren't a great deal of origami content on the internet.  Not like it is today.  Back then, it was easy to go visit known websites, blogs, and photo galleries and not be overwhelmed.  Today, there is so much content out there, there is simply no way I could look at everything.  It's the same with books and folding models- just too much out there and not enough hours in the day, let alone energy and enthusiasm to make it happen.

I've gone through phases where this blog wasn't a priority; although the Sunday Funnies are automatically scheduled to publish and is lined up all the way into 2023, at the moment.  Very few repeat cartoons, too.

I know the look and platform this blog operates on is dated; but it's free; and it'd be a big headache to try and move almost 1400 blogposts in the archives over to a newer platform.  I'm grateful to Blogspot.com for having remained in business for so long.

I think I have the most extensive sidebar link of blogs, websites, photo albums, and services than any other origami-related site.  There are a number of blogs linked that are no longer functioning.  I haven't removed them because they're a way for me to remember that they once existed.  I wish people wouldn't delete their old blogs but leave them up as archived history.  Amidst all the junk, and internet clutter there's also been some great content out there.

Check out my first blog post.

Wednesday, November 07, 2018

Favorite Tweezers




Some people think you must be cheating if you're using a tool.  Certainly, there's something to be said to have the skill to work small folds with only your anatomical tools; but tweezers are no different than how folding on a table is a tool.  And being able to use tools can be an art in itself.

There are a number of tweezers I like to use; but the two pictured are my top 2 favorites.  Especially the top one:  La Cross by Sally Hansen Precise Tweez over glasses Tweezers Angled Tip 71950.

On Amazon, they're being advertised for $45.99.  Cheapest I found was through eBay for $19.99.








Tuesday, November 06, 2018

Traditional Models

Some of these models I've never folded before.  I got a call requesting 5-10 traditional models for some fashion ad last Thursday, originally to be due Friday; but they ended up being picked up on Saturday.





Monday, November 05, 2018

Petty Samurai



Samurai
Designed by Dave Petty
Folded by Michael Sanders 
6” x 1.5” rectangle (1:4)
Source: BOS Convention 2000
Thank you, Andrew Hans.






Friday, November 02, 2018

Giveaways!

Folded by Joe Hamamoto



The swan-shaped receptacles were folded by me years ago- found in the 2002 May issue #321 of NOA.  Designed by Mr. Kazukuni ENDO.