Convention 2023 Class Descriptions/Advisories

This pleasing and fairly simple star is folded with paper that is cut to the proportion 1: √3. Instructions for sizing the paper to this proportion will be given in class. Some of the mathematical aspects of this star will be briefly discussed. The standard star is made with 6 units from 6 sheets of paper, but a variation that gives a slightly smaller star can be made with 6 units from 3 sheets of paper.

This modular design is constructed from 72 identical units that I call "edge crown modules". They are folded from 1x6 rectangles. (The module is an independent discovery that is closely related to a module developed by Fuse that she calls "Jagged modules", which is described in "Unit Origami Fantasy".) I will be supplying the paper for this class.

This wild John Montroll design is a lot of fun. When you complete this model your chimpanzee will be swinging from the trees!

Fold a mini tessellation with hexagon, triangle, and rhombus twists on a 16-fold triangle grid on a hexagon.
There will be no precreasing, just folding one twist at a time.
This tessellation is called Dancing Ribbons and you can find a video of me teaching it (and several precursors to learn first) here: https://youtu.be/fCg3f3j7AU4

This design is loosely based on the iconic Fender Stratocaster guitar. There is plenty of asymmetry to keep the folding sequence interesting and a few swivel folds to give this an "intermediate" level designation. Diagrams for this can be found in the book Origami Fun and Games:

https://origamiusa.org/catalog/products/origami-fun-and-games

A single square of larger kami is recommended (10"/25cm). With more practice you can use smaller sheets. Foil paper can be a fun choice for a metallic look.

This class teaches the folds and curriculum for an evidence based / published science improving mood, memory and even EEGS in Seniors!
Please join us to learn new skills OR if you work with Seniors but might like to collaborate on future projects. ( Work done at NIH Center of Excellence - Sanders Brown Center on Aging )

A one piece octagonal box by Robin Glynn, apparently inspired by my own Octagonal bowl. This is an (as yet) unpublished model, and contains nothing more complicated than some squash folds. With careful folding it is possible to fold this such that there will be no creases on the bottom of the box.

Model is a hang glider with person, all from 1 sheet square.

Is it a cube? Is it a rose? Yes! This models makes an amazing transformation from a simple-looking cube to a beautiful flower.

A fun and fierce-looking angler fish. This model features natural color change and a fun folding sequence. Attending this class will also give you exclusive access to the diagrams.

Using your digital camera to take photographs of your origami can be made less frustrating and more professional with some general tips, examples of varying set-up conditions, and some hands-on experimentation. The class will include both instruction (using a Nikon camera and lenses) and one on one work with a variety of digital cameras that students provide. We will also review the photographs taken and do some close-up work.
Special requirements/prerequisites: Bring your digital camera and camera
manual (if you have it). If you like bring some digital samples of your previous work to discuss.

Another one of Miyuki's beautiful and clever models. It is fairly simple to fold, and the construction for the basic form is straightforward, but there are so many variations, both in terms of how the center is constructed and how many units can be used.

This seahorse is a fun model challenging enough to stump you, so get ready for a deep dive into the world of origami!

This crane design uses a corrugation called a Spring Joint to flap the crane's wings when it is pulled. The class will first be taught how to fold the Spring Joint corrugation, and then how to apply it to the traditional crane using grafting. The starting angle and motion of the wings can be customized based on the folding pattern.

Students should feel comfortable with origami pleats, be it through box pleating or corrugation folding, and should have experience with using precreases in collapsing steps.

The Starlight is made from a single hexagon and can be lit up. This model utilizes some tessellation techniques like the triangle twist and, like a tessellation, is best made from heavier paper. Thinner paper has a tendency to rip and/or crumple. The hexagon will be divided into a grid of 8ths, which we will do in class.

In the class, you will learn how to construct a 12-unit dodecahedron module with 12 strips.
Frances will also share her insights on how she designs the model.

These are two action models, made from letter-size paper. When the sides of the Elephant's head are brought together, she curls her trunk; when the sides of the Baboon's head are brought together, he furrows his brow and yaps.

It becomes a disc that is slightly swollen like a lens. As an advanced work, you can assemble them into a cube shape by adding flaps.

A fun time with two action models. We will fold a pecking crow using a clever, interesting move to create the beak. A second bird is amazingly everyone’s favorite because it moves soooo well and if there’s time a local story to remember the folds of this flapping bird.

This Brontosaurus is formed from only simple valley and mountain folds, following the Pureland origami definition championed by the late John Smith. There are some unusual reference points, elevating this folding sequence to a "low intermediate" level designation. Diagrams for this can be found in the book Prehistoric Origami:

https://origamiusa.org/catalog/products/prehistoric-origami

A single square of larger kami is recommended (10"/25cm). With more practice you can use smaller sheets.

A tromino is a polygon in the plane made of three squares connected edge-to-edge. Each of the double sided checkered "I" and "V" shapes is folded from a single duo-color square sheet of paper. The checkered pattern looks the same on both sides of the model. Everyone, including non-folders, can use multiple completed pieces to take on several tiling challenges provided by the teacher in the class.

While tessellations follow strict symmetry rules, there are many choice points along the way to a finished design.
This lecture will be an elaboration and demonstration of the party trick of getting people's input to fold a tessellation that I described in the spring 2023 issue of The Paper.

We will take 30 pieces of paper 1 x 3 and fold into 5 tetrahedrons that intersect.

Flower Box ("B" version) is a clever one-sheet container! The box appears to have three layers but is actually folded from 1 square sheet of paper with no cuts and no glue. You should be comfortable folding a blintzed waterbomb, open squash and petal folds. The depth of the box can be adjusted to a deep box or a shallow box. The Flower Box can be gently flattened for transport.

In class, I will provide 1 sheet of 24 cm (~9.5 inch) plain kami for folding.

All dimensions are approximate: folded from 24 cm square sheet creates a box 17 cm (6.75 in) length x 17 cm (6.75 in) width x 5 cm (2 in) tall.
Folded from 15 cm (~6 in) = 11 cm (4.5 in) length x 11 cm (4.5 in) width x 3 cm (1.25 in) tall.
Folded from 10 cm (~4 in) = 5cm (2.25 in) length x 5cm (2.25 in) width x 1.5cm tall.

I found this box top while playing around with Angelika Schwengers' "Traubenbox". The top has a similar shape as her "trauben", but it's bigger, and if's folded in a very different way. It works well with a 1/3 masu box as a bottom. The edge length of the box top is 1/4 of the side of the original square.

This fabulous 3D star is made with 6 units from paper of ratio 1:radical 3. In class we’ll start with 3 squares of paper (provided—the coppery colored paper shown in the photo) and divide each into 2 pieces of the desired size. The star goes together easily and holds together really well.

This Grim Reaper is both scary and cute! It is from a single square using the classic Frog Base. There is a bit of pulling flaps out and wrapping layers around, so you should be comfortable with steps like
that. This model has a "high intermediate" level designation. Diagrams for this can be found in the book Spooky Origami:

https://origamiusa.org/catalog/products/spooky-origami

A single square of very large kami or foil paper is recommended (15"/38cm). With more practice you can use smaller sheets.

The Harlequin Heron is a variation of the traditional crane, but with an unusual twist which allows for the motley color change. The model is the same size as the traditional crane. It is not an iso-area fold, though it looks a bit like one -- peri-iso-area, from the Greek for kinda sorta equal area.

The Harlequin Heron is high intermediate on the Origami ISO Difficulty Scale and involves stretching a grafted bird base and collapsing it. (Not as scary as it sounds.)

This model is Creative Commons licensed and may be freely shared -- once you've learned it, you may teach it, modify it, diagram it without permission.

There are two ways to look at twists:
- Where should the pleats go relative to the center of the twist?
- Where should the center of the twist go relative to these particular pleats?

These different perspectives let you see different options and I call them the designing and the folding perspective, respectively.

Using these perspectives we can see that different sizes of square twists create a line that extends to those same sizes on the opposite side of the page.
We also see a zone around that line where properties of two different sizes of square twist can be hybridized together.
In box pleating terms this creates a level shifter and in tessellations it moves the pleats around in unusual ways, affording different symmetry styles that can be codified as design equations.

This lecture is a preview of the paper I'll be presenting at the Bridges conference in July 2023.

An introduction to origami design centered on a live design demonstration. After introducing basic design theory, Chris will design and fold a new original model live and unscripted based on an audience prompt, talking through his process as he works. A good class for those interested in learning both the basics of origami design and advanced techniques. Participants will be invited but not expected to fold along with Chris.

I will teach a fully closed milk carton with color changes based on a 7x7 grid.
I will also explain the design process a little.

This model requires eight square sheets of duo paper. Thin 3" (7.5cm) squares are recommended. You will see both sides of the paper on the completed model, so consider your paper and color choice before folding this star.

During the COVID lockdowns, Paul returned to creating origami models, designing more than 100 in a frenetic burst of creativity. He will be teaching 4-7 of them, as time permits.

It is a modular work assembled like a cube with 6 pieces. A pattern like an oriental fine mosaic emerges.

Rabbit shaped money box - makes a cute gift - ideal for Year of the Rabbit

Students will create seahorses using a fish base.

My sheep is a blend of a representational model and an expressive wool that is open to students' interpretation. I designed this model working with smallholder farmers and pastoralists when I was living in India, so I'll talk some about the stories behind the piece if people are interested. This is also a great opportunity for folders to improve their wet folding abilities.

We will fold a simple but beautiful model by Akira Yoshizawa of a snail on a leaf . The model is made with two pieces of paper, a smaller one for the snail and a larger piece of thin washi paper for the leaf.

An exploration of many of the possibilities of Mitsunobu Sonobe's famous module. No experience necessary, but those already familiar with Sonobe Modules can find something new. Literally dozens of models are presented, and the workshop format allows each student to learn the one(s) they like. Good for those looking for an introduction to modular origami as well as those who want more of a challenge. Models made from 1 to 60 modules will be shown. Construction ranges from low intermediate up to challenging. The basic module and some variations will be shown.

This 13-sided, hat-shaped polygon is the first known example of an “einstein,” a single shape that can be tiled to cover a plane with a pattern that never repeats. The word means one stone in German.
This origami version is folded from a single square piece of paper. You can start to play with the tiling puzzle once you have completed several identical pieces. See issue 76, The Fold, OrigamiUSA for the detail.

These are three animals I’ve specifically designed for beginner folders - a skunk, a goose, and a cardinal. As we fold I’ll point out some fundamental origami terms and discuss some of the basic design techniques that helped me create them.

Color change origami toucan, and the base of this design can be transfer to many other bird.

This class will focus on Yami‘s cube twist box. Yami's and Clemente’s boxes twist similarly, however, the paper division determines the proportion & shape of the final box. Yami’s model is a cube and folded from a square divided by fifths, whereas Clemente’s paper is divided in fourths and results in a shorter box. The class will also cover how to divide paper into 3rds, 5ths, 6ths, etc. by simple paper division and create a portable template for a quick reference guide for 3rds and 5ths.p

If time allows, we can do Clemente’s model as well.

Color change butterfly

This is a flat 8-unit modular model. Back side can be plain or you can have a star by adding two extra folds on each unit. Folding units and assembly are both fairly simple but need to be precise.

Learn to fold a tessellation with both open and closed hexagon and triangle twists, folded one twist at a time without precreasing. Criss Crossed is higher in conceptual complexity than in folding complexity and demonstrates a unique way to apply symmetry points to an alternating-hexagons-and-triangles-structure tessellation.

This is a very complex design, you should be comfortable with lengthy precreasing and 3D steps.
22.5 degree model with colorchanges.
I will explain the design process a little during the workshop

The class will create a dragon whose wings flap using a crane base. This model includes sink folds.

Jason Schneider teaches one or two of his own designs from his book "Origami Memories," showcasing a new take on origami flowers with an emphasis on folding in the air.

in 2023, Paul is celebrating 40-years teaching 'Folding as a Language of Design', to students of Design in 12 countries.
He will give a short summary of his teaching work, describe why he sees folding as a valuable component of Design education and show examples of what his students have made.

A cute and intrepid fox, with color change details on the ears and tail. Intermediate complexity.

Come and learn a classic Fuse box with 4 dividers.

It's a bit early, but let's start practicing a model for Halloween! This is a variation of Nobuko's Puff Ring (https://origamiusa.org/thefold/article/nobukos-puff-ring-and-3-d-variations ). The assembly is the same as the original Puff Ring. How to convert the Puff Ring units into a pumpkin, a tomb stone, a cat and a bat will be shown in the class.

Nothing like a mouthful of teeth to get your attention! I will teach you Robert J. Lang's Shark as a compound model with a separate set of chompers. This intermediate model uses the bird base and folders should be comfortable with folding inside and outside reverses. And its dentures stay in place without gluing necessary. That's certainly something to chew on!

This fish is formed from the classic Fish Base, however the way the flaps are used is nontraditional. There are some outside reverse folds, squash folds and unusual reference points giving this model an " intermediate" level designation. Diagrams for this can be found in the book Origami by the Sea:

https://origamiusa.org/catalog/products/origami-sea

A single square of larger kami is recommended (10"/25cm). With more practice you can use smaller sheets. Of course, be sure to have red/white paper on hand for the classic color scheme.

Bring your kami paper and join us to have fun folding this little spider

This pendant top model is made by two Gear Cube modules. A set of special papers costs $2 for each model, but it is not necessary to use them. We can use common kami papers also.

Attendees will use "curved folding" to make two orchids with distinctly different shapes:
Oblong "Dancing-Lady" and most popular rather flat "Moth" orchid.
The printed papers with crease lines and pictures will be provided, and no prior experience of "curved folding" is required.

An introduction to origami that will include basic folds, common bases, and understanding diagrams. Models taught will include the traditional box, swan, sailboat, start basket and water bomb. After the two hour class participants will have a good understanding of the "basics" and ready to attend other beginner classes offered at the convention.

This was one of Laura's Kruskal's favorite crowns, made from her famous Canoe Module. Wendy will teach an undiagrammed technique for making this model. A rainbow of paper colors will be provided in two sizes. To make a crown from the letter paper takes 10 modules. To make a crown from one-quarter of letter size takes 20-24 modules depending on your head size. Students can complete the letter-paper crown in class. The crown from smaller paper requires a bit of glue-- but it's worth it! No glue is needed for the Letter size. See photos! Bring your own gluesticks!

This class will teach models appropriate for jewelry, and methods of constructing jewelry pieces from your models. This will be a hands-on class, and at the end you will have several pieces of jewelry to enjoy.

Origami pegasus folded from a blintzed preliminary base. It is best folded from at least a 10 inch square. The most complex folds in this model are double rabbit ears for the legs.

An intermediate level modular design. Folders must have prior experience of modular assembly.

The embedded traditional crane and the card are folded from a duo-colored square sheet of paper using color change. The crane will pop up and spread the wings while opening. The closed card is flat and ready to be mailed to your friend. Knowing how to fold a crane by heart would be very helpful.

Technology and art are connected more than ever before. You’ve heard rumblings about using home crafting tools, vinyl cutters, and laser cutters to score paper for origami—but how do you get started? What can you achieve?
Over the last 4 years, I’ve been on a journey use what I know about technology to enhance the art that I love: origami. This session will include a presentation about my experiences using cutting and scoring technology to make and study origami. We will follow the story from my first Cricut machine to using industrial laser cutters to achieve a large-scale origami tessellation. I’ll bring along some of my successes and failures for you to see. We will open the class up for discussion and questions.
There will be no specific hands-on instruction. No folding experience is required; however, I will be discussing technological topics to include vector drawing, file types, laser technology, paper types, and some material science. It will be useful to have basic experience with drawing programs and vocabulary for using computers.

This is a super-complex design that mixes 22.5 and box-pleating techniques to produce an elegant result with lots of room for original interpretation. The design requires a number of difficult collapsing maneuvers. Methylcellulose or glue is recommended to achieve the best result, but not required.

The embedded swan and the card are folded from a duo-color square sheet of paper using color change. The swan will stick out while opening the card. The closed greeting card can be flatterned and mailed to your friend.

Tomoko Fuse's "Jagged" module was published in her book, "Unit Origami Fantasy". It is a very versatile module, but construction of models with it can be tricky. The instructor will share some insights and techniques that simplify the process. Students will construct a 6-unit model (based on a tetrahedron) in class, and they will receive guide sheets for constructing 12-unit models based on a cube or an octahedron and 30-unit models based on a dodecahedron or icosahedron.