Origami

Many people practice origami as a way to relieve stress, but Philip Durst has taken his paper folding hobby to the next level by showing a piece called "High and Lonesome" at Michael Mitchell Gallery in Charleston. This three-dimensional work is made of origami boats folded from Dum Dum wrappers and glued to the pages of old legal texts. It will be on view until mid-August.

Durst became interested in origami as a way to express his creativity and break up the rigidity of his law practice. He's even managed to combine his work as as an attorney with his passion for origami by working on his pieces while sitting through the long, often-tedious meetings that are a part of any law practice.

Durst primarily works with found papers in his origami art, so he often makes a trip to the local 7-Eleven instead of stopping at a craft store to buy origami paper. He says he eats the candy first, but points out that Dum Dum lollipops has given him bits of labels straight from their factories.

You can learn more about Durst's artwork on the Michael Mitchell Gallery website.

The Origami Poems Project is using paper folding to make poetry more accessible to the general public. Lynnie Gobeille and Jan Keough, co-founders of the project, print poems on origami booklets folded from a single sheet of paper and then distribute the booklets for free by placing them inside weather-resistant plexiglass boxes with signs. The goal is to provide exposure for up and coming poets while helping to make the general public more interested in reading poetry. Each micro-chapbook has between one and five poems.

The Origami Poems Project is a Domestic Non-Profit Corporation registered in the State of Rhode Island. The group is currently awaiting a federal non-profit designation.

You can learn more about this innovative effort to get people excited about poetry by visiting the Origami Poems website. To learn how to fold your own tiny poetry book, review About Origami's How to Make a Booklet tutorial.

Photo courtesy of Dana Hinders.

Beginning paper folders often think of origami as something that is purely decorative, but many models are both beautiful and functional. Origami boxes are some of the most practical projects around. Check out our Different Types of Origami Boxes sideshow for examples and step-by-step instructions for several different types of origami boxes. This month, I challenge you to come up with a creative way to use origami boxes for gift giving, entertaining, or organizing. Email your ideas to me at origami@aboutguide.com.

Photo courtesy of Dana Hinders.

Origami, in addition to being a fun way to express your creativity, can also help you make a difference in the world around you. Recently, the Kent Reporter ran a story detailing how entrepreneur Lindy Styer is using her love of origami to provide employment opportunities for disabled people throughout Washington's South King County. Styer's company, FunFoldables, sells clever origami designs that serve as sleeves for two blank notecards. This encourages the recipient to regift the card for use as an ornament or gift tag.

Styer contracts with CenterForce, a private nonprofit in Lakewood, to hire and train disabled workers to package and fold the cards. The workers are able to take steps towards becoming more self sufficient, while Styer's customers get to enjoy a wider range of beautifully folded origami stationery products.

If you'd like to purchase one of Styer's origami kits, visit the FunFoldables website for more information. Personally, I think the undies would be adorable as part of a baby shower gift.

Mother's Day is May 12. If you're looking for a cute card to have your child make to celebrate the day, check out our new How to Make an Origami Mother's Day Card tutorial. This card is made using three colors of construction paper and features a folded origami tulip embellishment.

Folded picture frames are also a good Mother's Day gift idea. One of my favorites is the origami diamond picture frame. This frame has spots for two photos, so it would be a good gift for Grandma if you add pictures of her grandchildren to it.

If you have time, you could try folding Mom a bouquet of origami lilies. In addition to being cheaper than an arrangement of fresh flowers, origami flowers can be enjoyed all throughout the year.

What are your favorite origami Mother's Day projects?

Photo courtesy of Dana Hinders.

With Mother's Day, graduation, and wedding season fast approaching, I'm sure many of you are looking for affordable yet thoughtful gift ideas. As an avid reader, I often find myself picking out books for many gift giving occasions. (If I don't know what type of fiction the recipient reads, I stick to cookbooks, travel books, craft books, or humor books.)

If you are giving a book as a gift and want to add a little special surprise to your present, check out About Origami's How to Make a Money Origami Heart Bookmark tutorial.

Photo courtesy of Dana Hinders.

If you're near South Carolina and looking for something fun to do this weekend, check out ArtFields. This is a 10-day event in Lake City running April 19-28. The celebration features live music, dancing, southern foods, and art exhibits done in a variety of mediums.

While attending the ArtFields event, you can vote on which exhibiting artist you think deserves the competition's prize money. There is a Top Prize of $50,000, a People's Choice prize of $25,000, and a Juried Panel prize of $25,000.

Artist Jacqueline Dunford will be showing The Stages of the Inner Man from a Platform of Origami Cranes. This is a display of 700 hand-folded origami cranes ranging in size of two inches to two feet. Her work makes a statement about human psychosocial development, with the smallest cranes representing the innocence of newborn babies. Check it out in the storefront window of LaBamba Mexican Restaurant, 114 W. Main St. Ms. Dunford will be at the restaurant Saturday, April 20 at 4 pm to answer questions and greet visitors.

Ms. Dunford is president of the Gaston County Art Guild. She has publicly stated that she intends to donate $1,000 to this non-profit organization if she receives the People's Choice prize from the ArtFields competition.

Details about the ArtFields event can be found online at http://www.artfieldssc.org.

If you enjoy origami, I urge you to consider expanding your paper crafting skills by trying a few kirigami projects. Kirigami is the art of folding and cutting paper to make designs. Hand cut paper snowflakes or chains of paper dolls are two examples of simple kirigami projects, but you can also make very pretty pop-up cards using this technique.

The recently released Simply Precious Pop-Ups by Kiyoshi Kikuchi has directions and patterns for over 50 different pop-up card patterns for birthdays, holidays, and special occasions like weddings or anniversaries. Full-color photos of completed cards are compiled in a gallery at the beginning of the book, so you can browse through this section for ideas and inspiration. Since it's hard to find free kirigami resources online, this book is a great investment for your personal crafting library.

I haven't done much with kirigami in the past, but my goal is to work on making a few general purpose birthday cards to add to my stash so I'm prepared for any last-minute party invitations my son receives. I think kirigami party invitations would be a fun project, although I'm not sure I have the patience to hand cut multiple copies of the same design.

Have you ever made any kirigami projects before? If so, I'd love to see pictures of your creations! Email me at origami@aboutguide.com,

Photo courtesy of PriceGrabber.

With Earth Day fast approaching, you might be looking for ways to celebrate. In addition to traditional activities like picking up litter from a local park or planting a tree in your front yard, consider making origami out of some recycled materials. For example, folding origami picture frames from old book pages is a great way to give new life to a book that is past its prime. Book pages are slightly thicker than regular origami paper, but still fairly easy to fold. Book page origami is also great for making party decorations or modular origami projects where you need lots of identically patterned paper, such as folding flowers for an origami kusudama ball.

One great reference book for people interested in origami done with recycled materials is Trash Origami by Michael G. Lafosse and Richard L. Alexander. The book has 25 projects that can be made with materials you'd normally throw away, such as candy wrappers, newspapers, magazine subscription cards, old greeting cards, and magazine pages.

What are your favorite ways to use recycled materials in your origami projects?

Photo courtesy of Dana Hinders.

I was thrilled to hear about eighth grader Carolyn Huynh's origami themed science fair project. Her project worked off an award winning essay she wrote the previous year about the connection between origami and math. As a reward for her creativity, she won first place in the mathematical sciences category at the Texas Science Fair in San Antonio. Judges were impressed by her project diagrams and related explanations for solving cubic equations.

Although Huynh's accomplishment is notable because of her young age, the art of paper folding does attract many people with an interest in mathematics. For example, origami artist Benjamin John Coleman was actually a high school math teacher before he decided to pursue origami full time. In this interview with About Origami, he said, "We're only just beginning to understand the relationship and potential of origami in science, math, and engineering. Think about products you own that fold. Start with your umbrella. But, then start thinking about NEW products that fold. How about those nifty portable tables that fold in half? How about those tents you see at craft shows? We've only just scratched the surface. In the future, I expect to see things like self-folding microscopic antennae inside cell phones for better reception, and perhaps an automobile that converts from a sedan to a van."