"What do magicians pull out of a magic hat?"

A common reaction to Robert Neale's bunny bill.  Van Nuys, Japanese Gardens October 14, 2012

My Personal Endeavour

October 13, 2012

With all the buzz going on  here in LA about Endeavour's journey through the streets of Los Angeles and her retirement, I finally endeavored to fold a couple of space shuttles.

 One on the left:

Created by Toshikazu Kawasaki
Folded by Michael Sanders
10" square of regular kami (This one glides)

2nd shuttle on the right:

Created by Seiji Nishikawa
Folded by Michael Sanders
20" square of foil paper bonded to a lightweight starbright-type paper

An Origami Turtle- and I'm not Lyin'!

Designed by Sergey Yartsev
Folded by Michael Sanders
6" double-sided commercial kami

A man gets off work and walks into a bar. He just got off work, after a long hard day and is ready to unwind with some drinking.. He starts off slowly watching TV, drinking beer, eating peanuts...and finding a flyer on the counter, he tears it into a square and begins folding it. After about an hour of drinking and folding, he produces a fine work of art:  An origami turtle now sits on the counter.

As the night wears on, the man moves on to mixed drinks, and then shooters, one after the other. Finally, the bartender says: "Last call." So, the drunk man says, "One more for me... and one more for my paper turtle." The bartender gives the man a funny look, but serves him up two glasses.   Suddenly, the beautiful origami turtle becomes liquidated when the man drops it into one of the glass drinks, where the paper proceeds to soak up the contents. 

The man pulls the soggy turtle out and plops it down on the counter, making a wet mess.  He then throws some money on the bar, puts on his coat and starts to leave. The bartender, yells: "Hey buddy, you can't just leave that paper lyin' there." 

To which the man replies: "That's not a paper lion, that's a turtle." 

*bad-dum-bum*

Future Origami Talent?

Oh, the joys of paper-ripping!  The simplicity of a fine art!

Somehow I can't see Robert Lang and Satoshi Kamiya starting out this way....



...but you never know. 

8-month-old Micah (a boy) laughing hysterically while at-home daddy rips up a job rejection letter.

 Don't worry....it's just paper!

But I'd probably wait a few years before any of you decide to fold him a Kamiya phoenix 3.5 or Brian Chan Attack of the Kraken and hand it to him. 

The Art of Pizza-Folding

Hat tip:  Mark Kennedy

The Dark Paper

August 19, 2012
Creator: Angel Morollón Guallar
Folder:  Michael Sanders

10" x 10" square composite of tissue/Japanese foil/unryu

 Diagrams are in 4 Esquinas magazine #007.

Thanks to Mari Michaelis for an excellent video!

McKayla is Impressed

Not impressed....

....Unless it's folded from in 3 steps or less. 

 Impressed:

Apologies to any owners of these photographs I pirated and 'shopped off the internet without attribution.

The Fold of July

Lover'$ Knot

I made this last Sunday for a friend's 10th wedding anniversary vow renewal ceremony.  I tried it with the $10 denomination, but the printing did not lend itself to as good a result as the single (and the old $10 printing is much the same as the new one in terms of size and placement of the denomination sign).  The girl on the $10 also comes out bland.  So I settled for the single, liking how the "one" printed across the hearts can symbolize two hearts as one; and tied together by the word "TRUST".

I believe Mike Jittlov had adapted Francis Ow's model to the dollar and it was taught indirectly to me by Andrew Hans, with Ron Fujioka giving me one he had made and modified such that the "IN GOD WE TRUST" printing showed in the knot.

Exhibit at the JANM

Folding Paper The Infinite Possibilities of Origami:

Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami is the first museum exhibition to explore the history of paper folding, the works of the world’s foremost origami artists, and the connection between origami and mathematics, science, and design.

Origami, or Japanese paper folding, began centuries ago in Japan, probably in religious ceremonies and as a pastime of Court nobles. By the 17th century, much of the population was folding birds, animals, and boxes. Paper folding was also practiced in Europe and became well established there by the 19th century. In both regions, the practice was regarded primarily as a children’s craft or hobby for adults with nimble fingers. It was not considered “art” until the mid 20th century, when folders around the world began experimenting with different styles, techniques, and materials. Now, origami is a sophisticated international art form worthy of museum exhibition, collection, and scholarship.

The exhibition showcases contemporary origami by renowned artists from countries as diverse as Japan, the United States, Uruguay, and Russia. It presents them within the context of origami history and examines the many evolving styles of origami today, from representational figures from nature to modular geometric forms and abstract sculptures.

The exhibition also examines the relationship between origami and art, science, and mathematics, and demonstrates its tremendous impact in areas as diverse as space exploration, medical research, and fashion design. Lastly, Folding Paper explores origami—particularly the beloved crane—as a powerful tool for world peace.

Helen Sperber of the WCOG arranged for a group tour with the curator, Meher McArthur (who worked closely with Robert Lang as advisor). It was a wonderful presentation with a couple of unique pieces of origami artwork that make their debut at this exhibit (no photographing was allowed).

"You gotta know when to fold 'em..."

Hat tip: Yaacov Metzger on the Origami List

Adventures in Paperfolding

While teaching origami at the Chinese-American Museum Lantern Festival today in Los Angeles (with Jim Cowling and Chila Caldera), a mom was laughing hysterically saying I just gave her the quote of the week. Apparently in the midst of teaching her son how to fold a panda, I stammered at him, "Uh-uh-uh-uh!...Stop! Stop! You're hurting the paper!" She thought that was just the funnies thing.

Then there was this girl who was having a heck of a time folding the same panda no matter how I explained it to her and no matter how I tried to get her to think about it; I'd end up doing the folding maneuver for her, hand the model back...and then she'd hold it back up to me and say, "Like this?" (>_<)

New Won Park $ Flapping Butterfly

Won says he will be teaching this model at OUSA.

Won Park Interview

Deb Pun Discoe posted the following video on her Facebook:




Happy to hear him make mention of Joel Bauer (Look him up if you do not know who this amazing man is).

I remember Joel returning from a trip to Hawaii, raving about this street artist he met. I was a bit skeptical back then that there were any "undiscovered" artists that no one has heard of (today there are many amazing origamists that many probably are unaware of); but Joel showed me some of Won's work. He encouraged Won to attend OUSA and that's where I first met Won Park.

I'd credit Joel as the one who propelled Won Park out of isolation and into the larger community of paperfolding enthusiasts.

Incidentally, speaking of Park, I remember coming across this video last year. Glad to see Won's generosity acknowledged in cyberspace:

Happy End of the Year!

Origami Bottle by Jo Nakashima
Origami Rose by Phu Tran
Folded by Michael Sanders

Sok Song's $ Rose on a Stem

Pam Miike brought these to the Origami Festival at the Van Nuys Japanese Gardens back in October. I believe she said Sok Song (his design) was giving these away at PCOC or something.

Looks to be a sort of Kawasaki rose/Stephen Hecht flower on a stem (incorporating an Elias stretch) hybrid.

Look for diagrams to appear in a future issue of Creased magazine.

Life's a Happy Song When There's Someone by Your Side to Fold Along

Kermit the Frog
Created b Halle (Carlos Santamaría)
Folded by Michael Sanders
8 squares
Diagrams: Cartoon Origami Book 3

8 Side Box with Lid
Created by Mr. A'Kos Horn
Folded by Michael Sanders
Diagrams: NOA #361

It took the new Muppet movie to get me to finally fold this model. I folded this about a week ago.

♫♪ Everything is great everything is grand
I got the whole wide world in the palm of my hand
Everything is perfect its falling into place
I cant seem to wipe this smile off my face
Life's a happy song when there's someone by my side to sing along ♫♪

"My origami can kick your origami's @$$!"

Hat tip to Russell Sutherland on his Facebook.

Feldercarb!

I'm pretty upset! I tried adding a new link to the sidebar while in the new blogger interface mode, and it changed (they call it "upgrade") my old template to a new one- erasing all of my sidebar links to other blogs and websites and photo albums in the process! Argh! I think I probably had the largest collection of origami-related links out there (yes, a number of which were obsolete- but still....).

Not sure when I'll have time to figure out an easy way to restore stuff.

If you want to be linked, drop it into a comment.