Nick Robinson's Blog, page 46

My Funny Valentine

I was teaching recently when one student said "it's Valentine's day, can we make something for our parents?". Erk! Not being an overly romantic type, I had no idea this was coming, so had to think rapidly for something simple enough for this fairly young class to manage.

A quick trial later, I had a pop-up Heart Card for them – 6 creases and wee dab of glue. The heart used A6, the card A4. It's nothing radical or wildly original and I'm sure you can figure it out from the photos, but I've actually drawn up a folding sequence – if you'd like a copy, drop me a line.

It's dedicated to my guru Wayne, who's in for an operation tomorrow. Not a brain scan, the equipment isn't sensitive enough…

Excuses , excuses

I started this blog with a clear intention to post something every day. For a while, I succeeded, but of late the rest of my life has become too busy. I thought I'd go off-topic and talk a little about the other love of my life, playing music.

I've played guitar for 43 years now, and really ought to be somewhat mroe skilled, but at least I can express myself. My outlets come in three areas; my classic rock covers band are called Muttley and we play Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Purple & the like. You can see a video of a recent gig here.

I also enjoy jamming with various Sheffield-based musicians, who fall into the loose category of "space rockers". Much of what we do is pure improvisation, avant-garde, almost jazz.

Lastly, there is my solo performances and composition, which I create running an electric guitar through a variety of delay and looping devices, as well as other obscure signal processors, to produce ambient, improvised pieces. This is as close as I get to actually producing something reasonable unique to myself, where any influences are buried so deep they cannot be easily spotted. Here's a video froma  recent gig.

These various musical endeavours all make great demands on both my time and energy, so origami sometimes has to make way. I hope you understand!

It's a small world…

Beat that! (and they did)

When you see children folding too quickly, not holding the paper properly and not making proper creases, it's easy to assume this is all you can expect. Yet some individuals clearly have a gift for precision and "get" a model very quickly. With these students, I introduce another challenge, that of scale.

We divide a large square into quarters, I cut it with my magic cutter (alias an "envelopener") and challenge them to make it from that sized paper. When they succeed (as they inevitably do), I repeat the process. Just when they think they are really going places, I rustle up a relatively tiny one to show what can be done. Cue dropped jaws and "woooooooahr – how d'you do that!"

Now and again, a student will rise to the challenge, as shown in the photo – mine is the larger of the two examples! The model is the trad "bench", a highly flexible and useful design to teach.

Online origami?

The future of printed media is going to be determined by how well the online providers meet their needs. Newspapers everywhere are facing increased competition and many smaller local papers are going under. Origami may occupy it's own peculiar little world, but it too is embracing the online community. As well as the myriad of web sites offering photos and diagrams, new content is becoming available either to offer extra value to society members, or to create / attract an audience of their own.

For example, members of Origami USA can now access an online magazine, inspirationally  called "The Fold". It contains diagrams, articles, crease patterns, photos and lots more. There's even some of it's content accessible to non-members. Any society can only produce so many magazines and these will be limited to a certain number of pages. Online, almost all restrictions vanish, authors can write articles that Dostoevsky would be proud of, complete with videos and full colour throughout.

Another arrival on the scene is "Creased – Magazine for Paper Folders, a new bi-monthly publication that features never before published original Origami diagrams from creators all over the world". Creased is available in both print and digital versions and subs are a tad under $60 USA, $100 international (from March 1, there's an offer until then). Check the site out to see what else they offer. They have been kind enough to allow me a preview of the first magazine and I was highly impressed – full colour and best of all, full (18 pages) of simple to intermediate models. The esteemed teacher Rachel Katz is editing a section called "teachers corner" and that should be essential reading for those of us who teach origami. There are also "bonus pages" on offer to subscribers, presumably they won't be in the printed version, a further 12 sides of models!

It isn't immediately clear why "Creased" has been set up (by Sok Song, with sponsorship from Jong Ie Nara) – there's obviously an income stream from subs and sales of paper, but the presumption is that the organisers don't get what they want from existing resources, which ought to make OUSA and other societies think long and hard. It also means that available diagrams and articles are shared more thinly. Sure, it's an open playing field and there are plenty of diagrams to go round, but at some point folders with limited funds will have to decide which of the many options they choose.

I'm not totally sure there is enough quality material out there to support  too many magazines, digital or printed. Creators may also think twice before releasing material that is pay per view only, since it naturally limits the number of people who will get to see it. Yet without an element of exclusivity, people may not feel inclined to subscribe. Articles of real interest and quality may be unavailable to the majority. I'll be upset if the average folder starts to miss out on quality designs and discussion, but it's worth waiting to see how things pan out. For the folder, choice is usually good!

Kuni @ Hazel Grove

Several years ago (1999, to be exact) Kunihiko Kasahara was a guest of the BOS for their Bristol convention and afterwards, we invited the Master up to a meeting in Hazel grove, near to Manchester. The venue was a small church hall and it was probably one of his more surreal experiences of the UK.

About 25 people turned out on a cold night to attend a special evening meeting, with several of us lugging a great pile of books for him to sign. Kuni did some teaching, then a few of us stood up to be counted.

I wonder if the young child on my right ever grew up to love origami and realised he'd met one of the finest origami creators of all time. I've worshipped KK for many years and was utterly delighted to meet him in person.

I thoroughly recommend everyone new to origami to invest in a copy of "Creative Origami", still a complete classic nearly 40 years after he wrote it. He set the standards that I aspire towards.

Flying high in Romania

My first ever book ("Paper Airplanes" from '91) continues to be made available somewhere in the world. The latest is in Romania, bearing the title "Avioane din hartie". I love to say I get royalties for them, but sadly it doesn't happen – the contract was for a flat (and fairly miserable) fee.

If anyone sees it for sale, please buy me a copy, let me know and I'll reimburse you or swap for another of my classics. I'm slightly reluctant to order from a site in Romanian, not speaking a word of it.

The things we do for love (sorry, cash)

My friend and mentor W. Brown recently showed me a book he'd picked up for the bargain price of 75p in a charity shop. Entitled "The tale of Napkin Rabbit", it tells the story of errr, a rabbit cunningly made from a napkin.  So far so average, I thought. Then he showed me the diagrams at the end showing how to fold said rabbit.

The challenge was to identify the diagrammer / creator of this classic. I had a couple of unsuccesful guesses before Wayne showed me the credits. My flabber has never been so gasted! This person (who shall remain nameless for his credibility, I'll refer to him as "Seth") was indeed well known to me (and the rest of the o-world) as an origami artist of the highest order.

Written in 1993, I can only think that "Seth" was down on his uppers and going through a spell where he questioned everything that was good about origami, for this model comes from a very dark place, origamically speaking. An alternative explanation was that he only had about 15 minutes to complete this commission. Judge for yourselves! I'd be fascinated to hear your own guesses as to the identity of "Seth".

Yoshizawa's butterfly, improved?

At a mini-meeting in Birmingham yesterday, I learned a variation on AYs classic butterfly. She in turn learned it from a Dutch lady at the last BOS convention in York. I can't remember the teacher (sorry!) but was struck with the model.

You should be familiar with the model, even if you didn't know the creator.

Take a waterbomb base,  fold two opposite single corners to the right angled corner.
Turn over, then fold the right angled corner back up, just past the raw edge. The lower flaps will curve slightly to allow this – don't flatten them!!
Fold the tip of the triangle underneath
Make a mountain fold along the centre.
Turn over for the completed model.

The model taught also included reversing the tips of the four waterbomb base flaps, creating colour-changed, blunter wingtips, but I prefer the simpler version.  In the past, I've always made this to AY's instructions, which involve flattening the paper at step 2. This subtle change makes the model beautifully and elegantly 3D. Now AY may well have been aware of this, (I doubt he'd have admitted it even if he had!) but I wasn't and I love it!

At the meeting I was delighted to meet Dave Venables & Mick Guy once again and the third member of the unholy trinity of 70s origami-Brummies also made a shock appearance, one Ray Bolt.  My friend Thea, who had known him in the 80s (when he retired from origami) sat next to him yet didn't recognise him until introduced. She claimed it was his white hair & 'tache that fooled her ;)

Collins Origami Storybooks

I spend far too much time scanning the web for obscure origami books from the dim, distant past. Amazon and E-bay make life considerably easier these days, although you need to watch out for a sting in the tail with the postage. One series that fascinates me is the "Collins Origami Storybook" set from the early 70's. There are four titles; "Brave Warrior", "Leaf And Stream", "Thunderbird" And "The Spear Thrower". All involve stories with a vague ethnic / nature feel, incorporating six characters that you can fold. Sheets of pre-printed paper are included along with folding diagrams.

If you look in remainder shops these days, there are any number of (tacky) "origami kits" where you fold the pre-printed sheets into animals to play with. What makes this set slightly different is that they have what I like to call "integrity". The stories are interesting, the artwork is quite appealing /kitsch and they contain a deal of what would nowadays be called an environmental / ethnic theme. One even features a character called O-Kuni!

The models themselves were all illustrated (and presumably created?) by a jobbing illustrator called Brian Edwards, himself an author of several books of "things to make and do".  What's interesting is that, for the time, they represent quite interesting models, technique-wise. Whether Edwards had any previous interest in origami is unknown, but he seems to have had a flair for it – his diagrams are nicely 3D.

The set of books were reprinted in the 1990s under different titles (Origami – Indian Lore, Origami Master, Forest Animals, Origami Dinosaurs) although none had the charm of the originals.

If you like interesting items in your library, I recommend adding this series to your collection. Don't pay more than a few pounds for the books themselves though – I found at least one sale where the suggested price of £70 was ambitious, to put it mildly! If anyone finds a cheap 70s copy of "The Spear Thrower", let me know, I need it to complete the set.

We don't need no steenking badges…

Apologies for lack of recent news, I'm just recoverering from a nasty attack by a computer virus. Anyway, here's something good and trivial for you.

I used to collect badges and have many hundreds stashed away in a box with some of those "anti-moisture" bags. The mania died of quite a while ago. However, a recent "tidy" of my drawers unveiled a few more recent origami related badges, so here's a shot of them, to take you down memory lane.

They are; Sheffield '96 (I hand-made these), Tanteidan '95 and '07 (I actually attended in 08), BOS 25th, OUSA '97 and one of many Mark Kennedy hand-made & lacquered that I'm proud to own. He must have made thousands over the years and given 90% of them away.