Animal Origami For The Enthusiast

John Montroll published an origami book in 1985 titled Animal Origami For The Enthusiast. Some how it reached a woman who I worked with in high school. She passed the book to me and I immediately fell in love with the turtle. I folded it and a few of the other models fairly regularly. I allowed myself to be intimidated by some of the tougher models, and refused to try them. I knew I would need larger paper for some, and others just looked too hard. That was back when I considered myself a casual folder.

As of starting this blog, I have become a bit more serious regarding origami and decided that I should make a special effort to fold the models that intimidated me. Since Montroll's book is the first one I ever owned, I thought it appropriate that fold each model at least once, then move onto a different book and fold each model in it.

The photo of the lobster to the right is the last of the 25 models to be folded! It used a square of paper 25" on a side. Considering I typically use office paper made into a square, it was a bit cumbersome to maneuver the sheet, but it was surprisingly easy when all is said and done.

Now I need to pick a new book to fold through!

[The photo is my own, of a lobster folded by me and designed by John Montroll]

Yoshizawa's Birth

I just wanted a little acknowledgment of the birth and death of Akira Yoshizawa. It was on this day in 1911 that he was born, and on this day in 2005 that he died.

Origami at the Library

A couple of weeks ago I got in contact with Jackie, a librarian at Brookdale. She had taught hundreds of children how to fold a crane and then collected them all so that they could be displayed in the library!

We talked about the possibility of teaching more origami and we thought it would be best to try what is called passive programming. Normal programs are ones where a time and date is selected and announced, sometimes requiring registration. Passive programming is where any announcement is make at the time the event is occurring and the participants are people who are already at the library.

Monday, we tried it out! It went well. I still need to get better at gauging a student's skill level and minimizing confusing advice. Slow and simple usually works, but that's not always what is going on in my head. I want to point out the different folds, the math behind them and such. Or sometimes I'll want to jump ahead a step or two. I need to go at the student's pace. But I must have done something right, because everyone successfully made a box and a rabbit!

I will be there again this coming Monday and I'll teach something else to someone else, and it will be good practice for me as a teacher and good publicity for origami as an art form. Maybe I'll see you there!