Origami Tessellations

I’m still folding paper – see some of the work at the end of this post! But I’ve just started taking GMAW/MiG welding classes, and it’s a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to learning some metalworking skills and applying some of my love for geometric design… and seeing what comes out of the combination!

I have a lot of fond memories of my grandfather working in his shop welding things, and my first attempts at welding tonight (while messy) made me feel a connection with him, and it was a happy-making experience.

And then this – my first exposure to a computer-controlled plasma cutter! It was love at first sight!

I have, however, been doing work in paper as well. I took a week in early February and went on a personal “art retreat” in NYC, and I was able to get some interesting work done. I also came away with a lot of ideas for new work, which is still continuing.

Here’s a design for a bowl (of all things) which I am still refining, to be completed in some wonderful multi-hued blue handmade flax paper. Please forgive the quality of the photos here, I was taking photos during the build process for my own reference.

Here’s the blue flax that I’m intending to use, from Cave Paper in Minneapolis.

And here’s a sample of a variant pattern folded from the same paper in a chocolate / brown hue:

The paper has a delightful roughness to it, with an uneven deckled edge that should really make a great rim to the bowl. I’m looking forward to the final version of this; I just have to make sure that I calculate everything properly, as I only get one chance to make it, and it’s going to take three sheets of the blue flax to do it in the proper scale.

If anyone has a good suggestion for a clear and strong glue, please let me know. I haven’t found any satisfactory “connecting” materials yet, which is also holding things up a bit. Ideas welcome.

Can’t help but post this beautiful octagonal star design by Mélisande*:

She calls this piece “Stars, Flower and Octagons”. It’s an extension of a design she was exploring in December, based on an irregular negative-space octagonal star – the shape created when you connect lines from all four corners of a square to the midpoints along the sides.

She further details the origins of this shape via some geometrical explanations on this flickr post:

It has been used quite a bit historically, including this Moorish mosque (now a church) ceiling in Toledo, Spain. (Image used under CC license permission from albTotxo’s flickr photostream.)

And of course I would be remiss not to mention Mélisande’s new blog, starting 1/1/2008!

La Chronique de Mélisande*

I’d be hard pressed to find a nicer person out there. She has this to say about her art:

I’m not claiming my art to be only a product of my own genius, nor have I proprietarian pretentions on it : many of my ideas actually come from friends of mine and I’m happy when someone else find my work inspirational. It isn’t origami until you share it, according to my friend Philip Chapman-Bell.
Art is a way to abolish time, distance, and a consolation to our mortality.

Congratulations on your new blog, my friend, and I look forward to reading more about your creations.

For all of you out there, С новым годом, Happy New Year, Bonne Année, Feliz Año Nuevo, and prost Neujahr! May this new year of 2008 bring interesting times and good luck to all of us.

-Eric Gjerde