Nick Robinson's Blog, page 23

Origami Butterflies : Michael LaFosse

Tuttle Publishing softback 11″ x 8.5″ 112 pages ISBN 978-4-8053-1226-1

LaFosse and his partner Richard Alexander are well-known to anyone with more than a passing interest in origami. Co-founding the Origamido Studio in 1996, they have devoted their lives to creating, teaching and presenting origami, as well as producing hand made paper with which to fold. Inspired at a young age by the work of Akira Yoshizawa, LaFosse is one of a select group of creators who value artistry above technology and his work is often imbued with life in the same way as that of the late Japanese master.

Over recent years he has forged a close relationship with Tuttle Publishing and has driven their products forwards in a way I find astonishing, considering the average quality of some of their earlier origami products. The book is a delight to look through – beautiful images of models made from hand-made paper and photographed in situ on a variety of gorgeous plants, colour artwork throughout, plenty of “white space” and a cover where the butterflies almost seem to be embossed on the paper.

At 112 pages, it’s a significant book as well, with plenty of early pages devoted to the development of the design, its base architecture, wing styles and variations. This background adds immensely to the value of the book and is perhaps necessary where the contents could be seen from one perspective to be limited in range.

Throughout the book, you are aware of the attention to detail the authors have paid, nothing is overlooked; each step has carefully chosen words giving extra detail where required and the photographs reveal how beautiful a model can be made, given the right paper and a sensitive touch. We even have philosophical thoughts to consider, such as a section where the author invites us to consider origami as “poetry for the fingers”.

Many of the designs, perhaps “variations” is a better word, are dedicated to people who are (or were) known personally to LaFosse and who share his love of the subject. The experienced folder will recognise many of them and what a marvellous tribute to receive! For those who are used to an origami book containing a wide variety of subjects, this book will encourage you to rein in your ambitions subject-wise, but to expand your attention to detail and become lost in the world of subtle variations and being truly creative. LaFosse studied to become a biologist and here he can begin to explore the rich variety that nature has to offer us.

As if the book itself were not enough, inside the back cover you find not one, but two DVDs of instructional videos for every model in the book. Here you have the chance to be taught by LaFosse in person and boy, can he teach. Both his folding and his use of language are exemplary – you can learn a vast amount about how to fold paper regardless of which model you are learning. Combining the drawn instructions with the videos means that few people will not get great results if they concentrate and absorb the wealth of information on offer.

Reviewing an origami book can be tricky if you know the author personally, you’re always slightly wary of making critical comments. In this case, the opposite is true, this book is so wonderful it’s actually hard to find anything negative to say about it! Perhaps the only slight niggle I could offer would be that the diagrams use coloured lines for paper edges, so where the fill colour is pale, so are the edges. Black lines might have added a little more definition. However, that’s being really picky!

The US street price of $11 is almost risible – only a company with the high-volume resources of Tuttle could have managed to offer so much for so little. The UK equivalent of £20 ($31!) is perhaps more in line with what you would expect to pay for a book of such quality with 2 DVDs, but still excellent value, I’d argue.

So, the LaFosse / Alexander combo continue to raise the bar for origami books and this is one you really should add to your collection. For more information about the authors, visit their fascinating website www.origamido.com

Spirited Away By Origami

On Wednesday 27 August at 2.30pm I will be showing how to make magic, ghosts, witches and monsters at the Showroom in Sheffield. The event is inspired by a film called “Spirited Away” from Studio Ghibli Forever.

 

Origami Anywhere!

Is the working title of a book I’m producing for Dover. The theme is to show origami made from recycled materials, flyers, tickets, napkins etc. As our relationship develops, I’m taking more and more of the design on board. For this book, I’m supplying master pages, including photography and layout.

Here are two images from the contents, a “Modular Decoration” by Steve Daniels and “Saltstraumen Octahedron” by Robert Foord.

Free (and legitimate) origami e-books ;)

I was contacted recently for advice by the author of a web page about where to find free origami ebooks, Dana Hinders. I supplied a general paragraph about copyright issues which was included.

There are a number of e-books on offer, including some from the BOS Supplies page. So, you can down load and fold from these links with a clear conscience ;)

Amazing Geometric Origami – where to find it!

I’ve just discovered that my new book Amazing Geometric Origami is available exclusively at Barnes & Noble stores, so somewhat surprisingly it won’t be sold on Amazon. It’s dirt cheap at under $9, so go buy a copy ;)

Firefly in the USA

Not really origami related, but I’m just back from my trip to America for the 2014 OrigamiUSA convention – I shot this video (played the soundtrack as well) at Mark & Arlene Kennedy’s Fold’n'Feed – my first ever and truly magical sighting of a firefly ;)

Angel & Buddhist merge

I’ve joined the two facebook pges – can’t think why I didn’t do it this way the first time. I’d love it if you could share any photos of models from the books on the page?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Angel-Buddhist-Origami/249798181840376

Money-gami by Gay Merrill Gross

I’m delighted to see the latest book by GMG is now available, her first in 7 years! I was lucky enough to get the contract for the artwork.

This is the fourth book I’ve worked with her on and working for Gay always gives me a (welcome) kick up the rear, because she demands the absolute best and no change is too small to be worth making. The end result is, I hope, top quality instructions!

 

OUSA Teaching schedule

The impressive system for teaching at the OUSA convention has cranked into action. I’ve confirmed a variety of details about the models I’m teaching and they have appeared on the OUSA website. This system is so far removed from our informal way of doing things in the BOS, yet I feel at some point we may need to become a little more organised.

I there’s a specific model of mine anyone would like to learn outside of a class, let me know so I can bring instructions – the memory cells have taken a beating recently. Here are the models I’ll be teaching, unless I change my mind at the last minute

(joke)

Fascinant Origami

The title of a forthcoming book dedicated to my own designs. I’d hoped it would be called “Intrigant Origami”, but I guess this is close enough. It will be initially published in French and Italian, then hopefully in English. The models on offer will be;

Leaf / Cat Brooch / Paper Holder / Heart Card / Arrow Tesselation / Level 2 / Arlington Box / German House / Flexi-Fish Form / Pecking Bird / Lauinger Angel / Baby Rabbit / Snails In Love / Woodpecker / Styracosaurus / Freiburg Dish / Frog / level 3 / Star Form / Elephant / Buddha Head / Time For Lunch

Here’s a  mock-up of the cover.