An alert Flickr friend let me know that my book appeared on Amazon.com: Origami Tessellations: Fantastic Paper Geometry   I’m interested to see it listed, although it’s still in the final stages of layout and all that fun stuff. The “cover” shown is not the final one, but just the mock-up created for the catalog; I don’t know yet what the final cover will look like. The final ship date is earlier than Jan 1, 2008- I hope, anyway- but nevertheless it’s not that far away, considering how much work still remains to be done on the publisher’s side of things. Here’s the blurb text from Amazon, which (I’m guessing) is something that was written for the catalog that Lark sends out to all prospective purchasers. Tessellations—shapes repeated over and over to fill a plane without overlapping—have inspired beautiful art, from intricate tile work to M.C. Escher’s playful graphics. Now, master origami artist Eric Gjerde has produced the same stunning kaleidoscopic patterns simply by folding paper! His awe-inspiring collection—the first of its kind—explores the creative …

I received an email from KEIKO Gallery in Boston, letting me know about an upcoming show for Nishimura Yuko (or Yuko Nishimura, in Western name styling.) The Exhibition is from May 5, 2007 to May 27, 2007; there is an opening reception on May 5th from 3PM to 6PM. If you’re in Boston or anywhere *near* Boston I most highly suggest you make an effort to see this show! Her artwork is absolutely stunning, and I never can see enough of it- I regret that I am unable to make the trip out to Boston just to see this, but I’d do it in a heartbeat if I could. Detailed information about the exhibition can be found here: http://keikogallery.com/nishimura_exhi.html Nishimura Yuko was awarded notable prizes for her innovative paper reliefs while still a student of architectural design at Nihon University in Tokyo. Using her skilled fingers as her tools, she transforms crisp, single white sheets of Japanese hand made paper into two dimensional panels and three dimensional objects that are filled with lyrical and rhythmic …

I’ve long been a fan of Yu-Chih Hsiao, who makes a seemingly endless array of fantastic designs. What appeals to me most is the broad array of concepts that he pulls together and uses. I don’t like comparing people to others, but his work reminds me of Thomas Heatherwick mixed together with a whole lot of kirigami goodness (and that’s a wonderful thing!) Take a minute to look through some of his designs – there’s all sorts of ideas and concepts there, definitely something that will spur the imagination. There’s a lot that can be said, but I’ll let the pictures do the talking instead. -Eric Beautiful stuff, isn’t it?

I am in love with The Institute for Figuring. If you’re at all interested in geometric art, tessellations, chaos, fractals, or really anything- you should become a member. It’s highly worthwhile. Crocheted Hyperbolic Plane, copyright IFF From their website: The Institute For Figuring is an educational organization dedicated to enhancing the public understanding of figures and figuring techniques. From the physics of snowflakes and the hyperbolic geometry of sea slugs, to the mathematics of paper folding and graphical models of the human mind, the Institute takes as its purview a complex ecology of figuring. It’s like someone took EVERYTHING out there that I find interesting, and wrapped it up into a non-profit with a cool website, publications, and speaking events! Fantastic stuff. To whet your appetite, there’s a rather good article on mathematical paper folding on their site currently: The Institute For Figuring // Online Exhibit: Mathematical Paper Folding Enjoy!

Been very quiet here as I wrangle some personal and professional monsters. More frequent posting will resume soon. Look for a good writeup on up-and-coming paper artist Jen Stark shortly! Reposting this short list- it was something I sent to the Origami Mailing List a week ago. Some nice things to admire, and/or be inspired by (or make yourself!) -Eric ———— Not all just origami, but also some paper art and folding architecture things too. The list has been rather quiet lately so here’s some things to look at. http://revistagalileu.globo.com/EditoraGlobo/componentes/article/edg_article_print/1,3916,516776-2680-1,00.html A nice article on the mathematics of origami, in Portuguese http://www.gailbarlow.com/sculptures1.html Wonderful paper sculptures (lots of sliceforms!) by Gail Barlow (thanks to J. Rutzky for the link) http://www.foldschool.com Free foldable cardboard furniture designs for kids http://www.orangevoid.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=36 Fantastic tessellated membrane, mechanically controlled for architectural purposes (I dream about this sort of stuff, and here it is in real life!) http://community.livejournal.com/ru_pop_up/32317.html Some very nice tessellations on a russian paper architecture site- great curved pieces http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/11/how_to_use_furo.html great PDF from Japan on Furoshiki, cloth gift wrapping – with lots …