In an effort to get my house back(!), i’m having a clear out of duplicates and some books i’ll never use again, plus some of the weird and wonderful origami “things” I’ve picked up over the years. It’s also the sole site for Hans Werner Guth’s superb wooden folding tools.
Feel free to pick up a bargain!
My first proper self-published project is taking shape (at last!) – how to teaching the basics of paper-folding plus an accompanying “Folding For Fun” booklet with 30 designs. I hope to be launching it on Kickstarter in a while. I’m considering “Origami – a Teacher’s Guide” or “A teacher’s guide to Origami” – any thoughts or suggestions?
Finally completed the photographs for my next NuiNui book – looking good!
| Fujimoto Cube | Shuzo Fujimoto |
| Aberdeen Terrier | Eric Joisel |
| Container | Francis Ow |
| Simple Star | David Petty |
| Nun / Dog / Rabbit | Edwin Corrie |
| Tumbleweed | Rob Foord |
| Lonely Flower | Dasa Severova |
| Rose & Stem | Ted Norminton |
| Cuckoo | Akira Yoshizawa |
| Tooth | Marc Kirshenbaum |
| Box & Lid | Tomoko Fuse |
| Book | David Brill |
| Orca | John Montroll |
| Stealth Fighter | Robert Lang |
| Talking Frog | Nick Robinson |
| Bistella | Francesco Guarnieri |
| Dragonfly | Nguyen Hung Cuong |
| Dim Sum Bun | Michael LaFosse |
| Snail | Lee Armstrong |
| Fish | Román Díaz |
I was delighted to be asked to provided instructions for the traditional crane to be included in “The Last Paper Crane” – a novel by Kerry Drewery, now available in the shops. The book as been described as “Narrated in a compelling mix of straight straight narrative, free verse and haiku poems, this is a haunting and powerful novel of courage and survival “.
Belatedly spotted this review of the US edition
As an experiment, I’ve launched a fledgeling shop on my site (yes, there are young birds), to be expanded as time permits. You can buy (very cheaply) 2 ebooks that I wrote many years ago, still full of (i think) interesting models. There are also some copies of my actual books. It’s a great way for you to support an impecunious artist directly!
Some work from my books have been compiled into small books, 56 pages of diagrams with 200 sheets of nicely patterned paper. Available in a variety of languages!
If you loved Tomoko Fue’s “Spirals” book, here is the new follow up! It is sure to be an amazing book, everything Paulo Mulatinho creates is extraordinary 😉
Hardcover: 245 pages Publisher: Eyrolles; French language
ISBN-10: 2212674171 : 29.6 x 2.2 x 21.5 cm
Denis is a long-standing member of the MFPP and has produced many diagrams and cover artwork for their magazine. He co-organised several “Rencontres de Mai” He worked for three years as a technical adviser, diagrammer and researcher for Atlas Editions, who produced a substantial “part-work” series on origami as well as numerous spin-off books from the series. He has drawn upon these 30 years of experience and his considerable passion for the subject to produce this remarkable book, which he has been working on since 2009.
It’s hard to believe, but there have been very few commercial books that offer a sequenced approach to origami techniques. In the main, books are a collection of diagrams, often themed, presented in order of difficulty. Generally, they have an opening chapter covering basic techniques and bases, then it’s straight into the models, which lie within the “simple” category.
Either through his powers of persuasion or an unusually enlightened publisher, Denis has managed to give his book a far more structured form, combining an academic approach with plenty of models if that’s all you’re looking for. I’m honoured to have a design within!
Over 41 “lessons”, this book covers just about everything a beginner could wish to know about the subject, including diagrams, folding, paper, bases, techniques and much more. The key theme is “bases” and all the traditional “ground forms” are present. They are presented in far greater depth than you might expect and are profusely illustrated by hand (in itself, extraordinary in these days of computer) with great clarity and often showing how and where to place your hands when executing certain techniques. If I was picky, I’d say the model for the hands appears to be Rachmaninoff in his later years, but I know from bitter experience how difficult it is to draw hands!
Considerable time and thought has gone into the sequencing of this book and the author presents a wide variety of subjects to illustrate the techniques, most are traditional, but some are less well known and all are elegant. The folding of bases are presented in a variety of alternate ways and wherever a new symbol is introduced, it is given a section explaining it’s use and possible different alternative symbols you might come across. The phrase “volume 1” in the title clearly implies there is more to come, but how many years before volume 2 appears is anyone’s guess.
I’d have to say that this book is a must-have for anyone serious about teaching or learning origami – there are models and ideas that you can use as inspiration and there is plenty to think about to make you a better folder. I wish it was in English, so I could enjoy the nuances of the text, but the ideas are manifest despite the language. 28 euros is a small price to pay, so buy it now!
I checked out the company pages for my Flexagons book recently and was midly confused to see that I apparently wrote a book about Osama Bin Laden! I’m not convinced this will do a great deal to boost sales…
