Folding LaFosse

I always enjoy folding a model by Michael Lafosse. The base is usually quite simple to fold, but after some interpretation in sculpting, the models are realistic and quite beautiful.

This particular model required Duo paper, which I attempted to make by MC'ing Royal Blue and Merlot Red lokta together. Though the final product comes out very nice to sculpt and fold, the rich colors bleed together. Next time I'll have to tr spra adhesive and maybe even replace one sheet of lokta for tissue paper.

"Red Throated Hummingbird" by Michael LaFosse

Folded from one 9" square of 

Royal Blue/Merlot Red Lokta

Still Folding...

It's been a week or two since I last posted. That doesn't mean I haven't been folding! I've spent quite a bit of time working on Quentin Trollip's "Grey Wolf". After one or two tries I was able to fold this model.. however trouble began when I tried to use just the right paper to fold it.

The first successful fold was completed using an 11"" square of Canson artists marker paper. Its highly sized and very smooth to the touch. Though it isn't the thinnest paper out there, it holds an excellent crease. I've found it to be an excellent paper for technical folding, but not so great for sculpted (wet folded) models.

Moving on to fold a final version of the model in artist quality paper, I ran into some trouble. Some of my papers are great for 100 steps or so, but start to soften and break down around 130 folds. This means some of the really nice details can be lost- like the toes of the Wolf.

So after trying several sizes and types of artist quality paper, I ended up with a Butterscotch colored Lokta, which had been resized using a cornstarch solution rather than Methyl Cellulose. I find I get a better crease from the cornstarch.

"Grey Wolf" by Quentin Trollip

Folded from a single 20" square of 

Butterscotch colored Lokta paper

Another recent fold is an old favorite- The Kawasaki Rose, which I have placed upon a simple longstem folded to my design from a second square of paper.

"Kawasaki Rose"

Folded from one 9" square of Merlot Red

and a second square of Grass Green Lokta paper

Bottlenosed Dolphin

What do you do with a nice big light grey 20" square of thick paper suitable for wet folding? A dolphin of course! I've folded enough 4 legged animals and multi appendaged insects. The dolphin in action pose struck me as a unique and interesting subject to attempt to capture in a wet folded model. The paper is actually almost TOO think, as the rigid layers within make it difficult to shape.

"Bottlenose Dolphin" by Quentin Trollip

Wet folded from one uncut 20" square

of home made paper.

Behind the torch once again

We awoke this morning to about 5 inches of snow on the ground! It's not even Halloween yet. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was putting away the summer hobbies... but it sparked some motivation for Beth and I to get back into the glass studio. It's been a few months since we did any real lampwork due to summer schedules and activities. We are a little rusty, but after a few practice beads it's like riding a bike.

We've had several requests for Euro-style beads (Pandora etc). First we have been requested to produce a handful of breast cancer awareness beads. I have also have requests for sculpted pigs, cows, turtles, and dogs. It seems the fine detail stringer work is in high demand.

With the kiln stocked to the hilt, we take a break to play with the kids in the afternoon, and maybe even make some paper to fold!

Upgrade to 20" squares

The set of equipment I had been working with to make paper was about 9"x16". I made some great sheets of paper, but found that the aspect ratio was all wrong. I could get one nice 9" sheet, but then I'd have to basically junk the rest of the sheet.

Solution: Build a square set of equipment... and why not upgrade to 20" while I'm at it?!?

  

Here you can see the 20x20 deckle and screen frame just about to get its first batch of pulp. This is of course all made from scrap wood I found laying around the garage, leftover from a previous project. We didn't have a 20" square rubber maid bin to work in, so I made my own.. mocked up from some scrap lumber and a sheet of plastic, as I had seen in photos of the Orgamido studio. This is several advantages. One is it's cheap and easy, and thats for me. I have enough expensive hobbies to soak up any available money!

Here's the first sheet that measures about 19" square drying on the flannel blotters on the kitchen floor. shortly thereafter it was transferred to a drying rack.

Since my wife, Beth, helped me to patiently with the first pull, we made a second pull just for her. We pulped white kraft paper, and she creatively used shards of pink paper sprinkled about, and green cake decorating sprinkles which soaked tiny green spots into the pulp.

Aside from needing to acquire a new set of 20" blotters, I'd say this setup gets a thumbs up! Looking forward to wet folding this one!

Wet Folding

I sat down early on this evening frustrated with a massively complex origami eagle, which is supposed to take up to 6 hours to fold. The problem is, this is my second attempt and I screwed it up on the same step as last time.... somewhere around step 110. Ugh. 

I needed something new to refresh my motivation. I stumbled upon two models that peaked my interest- not for their complexity, but for their apparent simplicity. These models require very few diagrammed steps, but have a very artistic sculpture quality to them. They are little works of art.

The first was "Panther Mask" by Michael Lafosse. I folded this using the paper made during my last post. The paper was maybe a 9" square. it was thick and had some denim cotton content. As I started to fold this model, I noticed the thick paper seemed to soak up the force of my fingers as if it knew what I was asking it to do. I'm not saying I was creating some revolutionary masterpiece- far from it. But the paper felt like clay in my fingers.

I spent a good hour working this model, rounding in the shapes of the face- the nose, the cheeks, the upper lip. I just kept working at it until I was happy with the shape. I think I just found a whole new universe within Origami.

The next model I stumbled across is called "Cat" by Vietnamese artist Giang Dinh. This is the first time I did a "true" wet fold- where I used a damp sponge to wet the areas as I worked. For this model I used a 9" square of thick home made paper made from Kraft stock that had been treated with Methyl Cellulose. Though this first attempt is far from a masterpiece, it has considerably more shape and life than the mask did. It definitely requires much more artistry than technical folding talent. The diagrammed steps number less than a dozen! It really is too bad I'm not a cat person!

Final Sail of the 2011 Season

Well, we logged quite a few hours over the last few months, sailing late into the season and loving every (cold) minute of it. Since the blog is new, I thought I would post a link to this video which shot by a friend, Mike, as we sailed on Sacandaga Lake in mid October.

Here's a GPS map and some stat's from our afternoon's voyage:

Trail Map recorded while sailing on Sacandaga Lake.