Fox Head

This was a challenge folding the fox’s head.  You need to keep your eyes half closed and imagine the large ears of the fox and elongated, half open snout.  Can you see it if you squint?

Fox Head 11.18.2016

Yesterday, I had an extraordinary experience as I rushed to work.  I was late leaving home because I folded in the morning.  Usually, I am oblivious to whatever is around me as I rush to catch one of three trains.  But yesterday was different.

Suddenly, I saw geometric shapes everywhere!  Squares, rectangles, triangles and circles were superimposed on houses, rubber walking mats, streets, cars – everywhere I looked I saw shapes and folds.  Even in nature – I saw the patterning of a group of late Fall flowers.  It was like seeing for the very first time all shapes and forms.  This has stayed with me since yesterday – is this the result of folding daily?  See some quick snaps below.

Last Flowers 11.17.2016

Tall Buildings 11.17.2016

Rubber Mat 11.17.2016

Subway 11.17.2016

 

Swans

This swan design was puzzling at step 7 in the book “Traditional Origami.”  I just did not get how to create the body.  My folded output – using the floral paper -looked nothing like the photo in the book.

So I googled “swan origami” and found a slightly different design for a swan at www.origami-instructions.com/origami-swan.html. I folded the new design using white paper but still found the final output clunky.

By-the-way, the blog today was written on my cellphone using the free WordPress for Android which was easily downloaded from Google Play store. It is great!

Sailboat

Fall is passing quickly.  It is quite dark in the mornings when I leave for work.  I take three trains to my job – two if I have the energy to walk between stations – and it takes me two hours each way.  The two T trains (Red and Green) are often packed but I like the Newburyport commuter train from North Station.

Sailboat. 11.16.2016

 

The train chugs along the North Shore’s coastline, passing marshes, woodland and towns.  In the Summer, one can see lots of sailboats.  So, it was appropriate to fold this simple sailboat design on the train to work.  The train’s red seats were quite a contrast to the pale blue paper sailboat in my photograph.

Pine Trees

Here is another simple fold:  Pine Trees.

Pine Trees. 11.15.2016.

 

I had trouble with the trunks of the trees.  I was surprised that they actually stood up all by themselves on their bases.  Three trees were better than one I surmised.  Besides, it looked more like a small grove of trees and gave me more practice.

Japanese House

Someone gave me a gift of a book “Traditional Japanese Origami” with 10 simple classic folds a couple of years ago.  I can’t remember who it was now.

Traditional Japanese Origami Book with Papers

 

The book sat on my bookshelf waiting to be used.  I looked at it frequently, a bit afraid to try one of the designs…and then I opened it yesterday and folded the first very simple design called “Japanese House.”  It was surprising how  with a few simple folds, the house was formed.  I was delighted!

Japanese House. November 14, 2016

My first paper folds

Greetings – This is a blog to record how I learn to fold paper.

I’ve always admired the work of origami artists and wanted to learn to fold.  Yesterday, I attended OrigaMIT 2016, an annual origami convention at MIT. http://origamit.mit.edu/conv16.php

It was wonderful and I was inspired to try my hand at folding.  The photo is a dinosaur I folded with lots of help for other class participants and under the excellent instruction of Jason Ku at the convention.

Dinosaur. 11.12.2016