Folding the Olive Leaf
Attracting Pollinators
Origami Paper for Flowers
Table of Contents
Editor’s Note
2
Folding the Olive Leaf
6
Attracting Pollinators
13
Origami Paper for Flowers 24
Web-Enabled!
Click on any highlighted item or text in this document and you will be taken to a link on the web. You can also scan QR Codes (right) with your cell phone, or click them!Editor’s Note
by Ben Coleman I’ve been awfully busy lately and I apologize that I haven’t had more time to devote to this magazine. In a perfect world rent, food, and clothing would be free; sadly economic reality demands that I earn enough to pay for these expenses. What continues to amaze me is that I am able to do it through my art and through endeavors related to it. In the past few months I’ve
completed two new books and collaborated on a
third. I also built an origami sculpture for an advertisement.
When I started writing this month’s issue I was still in my old studio. I am now in a first floor studio with more space and direct access to the street. This makes it much easier to visit, and I have open studio hours on Sundays from noon until 4 pm. If you’re in Rhode Island and would like to visit, please come by. If Sunday doesn’t work for you, please call before coming. I’m sure I’ll be around.
Origami Bonsai continues to grow in popularity. You may not have noticed, but my Origami Bonsai related documents on Scribd have been read more than a half million times! I hope you enjoy this issue.
Sincerely,
Benjamin John Coleman
Origami Bonsai Resources on the Web
Click on the thumbnail to be taken to the corresponding web site.
www.OrigamiBonsai.org
Origamibonsai.org has tips, books you can buy, free folding videos, photos of Origami Bonsai created all by people living all over the world, and lots more.
www.Scribd.com/Benagami
You'll find Origami Bonsai Electronic Magazine here along with less expensive electronic versions of Advanced
Origami Bonsai and Origami Bonsai Accessories.
When you become a "fan" of Origami Bonsai on FaceBook you will be notified when new issues of this magazine are released. You'll also find craft show schedules where Origami Bonsai artists will be present, along with other announcements.
www.YouTube.com/OrigamiBonsaiForum
Benjamin John Coleman’s Paper Craft Books
Click the book cover to order or preview.
The first book in the Origami
Bonsai (2010, Tuttle Publishing)
series is available at bookstores worldwide. This book teaches how to fold the basic flower form from which many varieties of flower can be folded. Comes with folding videos on DVD. 112 pages.
Advanced Origami Bonsai
teaches how to make branches from newspaper using the Makigami technique. Also teaches how to create intricate branch networks for Origami Bonsai sculptures. 182 pages on DVD or through Scribd.com
Origami Bonsai Accessories teaches how to make durable
Makigami jewelry, accessories, bangles, planters and other items. Make virtually anything you can conceive of from paper. 152 pages on DVD or through Scribd.com.
Books ordered
through
OrigamiBonsai.org
ship the same day
they’re ordered!
Origami 101 includes more than
40 fun and interesting models from every genre of origami. This book is written for the absolute beginner with
strategies to go from beginner to expert in one book! Origami
101 is the first origami book with glow-fold diagrams and videos
making learning origami easy!
Artist-inventor Benjamin John Coleman guides you with step-by-step instructions in how to make over 30 durable, wearable jewelry projects. Learn how to recycle ordinary newspaper into intricate, complex natural shapes. Instructions for making earrings, bangles, pendants and much more! 132 pages with 14 videos in full HD
Click here
to see a list of Origami Bonsai sculptures available on Etsy.Origami Bonsai artists and craftspeople, make sure to include the keywords "origami" and "bonsai" when posting your work to Etsy so it will be included when readers click this advertisement.
Folding the Olive Leaf
The olive leaf’s folding pattern revealed itself as I was developing content for this issue of the magazine. I’m not sure why I didn’t discover it sooner. The olive leaf has a highly desirable, oval shape. It can be folded either with, or without, a pointy tip. You may also want to try folding it
without veins for a little bit different look. The olive leaf has a particularly short stem, which means you should pay special
attention to the position of the branchlets as you design your sculpture. You can fold your leaves with longer stems, however, you’ll lose the oval look for an entirely different
one.
Begin with the colored (leaf) side of your paper facing up.
Fold and then unfold your paper in half diagonally and then flip it.
Fold the corners toward the center as shown.
1
2
Fold the lower outside corners to the center as shown, this time aligning each lower edge with the fold you made in step 2. Optionally, fold the top corner down to create a more rounded leaf tip.
Your model should look like this. Flip it.
Fold your model in half on the fold you made in step 2.
4
5
Fold and then unfold 4 or 5 parallel folds as shown. These folds will represent veins in your leaf.
Unfold the fold you made in step 6 and then flip your model.
Fold the bottom tip up as shown. This fold is made just below the thickest layers of paper in the leaf, so you can feel where this fold should be made more than you can see it.
7
8
Fold the tip back down leaving a gap.
Narrow the stem by folding the edges in as shown. Notice that the dashed fold lines don’t extend all the way to the edge of the paper. That’s because two pockets get formed by these folds. See the next step.
Crush fold the pockets which formed in step 11.
12
10
Pinch fold your stem closed and then flip it.
Push the surface of your leaf into the stem as shown to complete your leaf.
16
15
Makigami accessories available on Etsy,
Click here.
Attracting Pollinators
In order to
accurately portray nature in our work, it is important that we understand why plants grow the way they do. This article will help you
understand the relationship between some plants and their pollinators. It should help you develop a better understanding of how and where you should position flowers in your
sculptures to achieve a natural look.
Pollinators are attracted to flowers by their color and scent – the same things which attract us! It is probably fair to say that, over time, plants have adapted
themselves to specific pollinators. Those that attract flying
pollinators, like bees, tend to have flowers with unimpeded access from above. That is, the flowers are positioned to
A bee collects pollen from a wildflower. Notice that the flower is located well above the closest leaf.
tower above, or are separated from, leaves, thorns and other growths. To a flying pollinator, these flowers represent little aircraft carriers above a sea of foliage.
Examples of these sorts of flowers are common. From the impatiens, iris, and lily, to tulip, daffodil and marigold, examples of large single flowers, with few impediments to airborne insects surround us. These large flowers are easy for a pollinator to spot. Which begs the question, are there plants
that produce small flowers that compete for the same pollinators?
It turns out that there are many varieties of plants that produce clusters of small flowers which attract the same pollinators as those that produce large flowers.
Rhododendron and
Hydrangea are probably most common; however there may be a plant that produces even smaller clusters as close as your refrigerator. Broccoli and cauliflower are both plants that produce this type of small, clustered flower. So how can we mimic this sort of flower configuration? Perhaps the best place to start is by looking closely at a real plant. In this example I’ll use a local wildflower that produces a canopy of blossoms.
Notice how the cluster of flowers seem to form a graceful curve, almost as if they’re part of a sphere. This is a common configuration. However, the engineering required to achieve this is formidable. Each flower must be connected to a shoot and each shoot must be connected to some sort of support, and then finally connected to a branchlet.
Perhaps looking at flower before it has bloomed will reveal its structure. At left you see a photo of an array of tiny flower buds.
Notice the structure. Each bud is attached to a shoot. Sometimes the shoots attach directly to a stem, and sometimes they attach to another shoot. The clusters of shoots then attach to a branchlet which then attach to more branchlets, and finally to the main stem. This is a highly complex structure which will be hard to mimic.
A similar flower from last year.
Engineering a Cluster of Flowers
1. The first step in the process is to make as many flowers as your sculpture will require. You should also make the components of your sculpture including makigami stems,
branchlets and shoots for flowers. In this example I made shoots in three sizes.
2. Cut a tiny hole in the bud of each of your flowers. Make sure the hole isn’t too big as it needs to be tight enough to hold the flower in place as you engineer your assembly.
3. Insert a shoot into the hole you created in step 2. Do not glue the flower in place as you will need to remove it before you paint your makigami assembly.
4. Insert a flower onto the main stem of your sculpture. Use the assembly you made in step 3 to determine the position of the shoot.
5. Once you’ve determined the position, cut the shoot and glue it to the main stem.
6. Repeat steps 3 through five for your next flower. Notice how the petals of my flowers have developed a slight curve.
7. My fourth shoot and flower extends the curve in another direction.
8. My fifth flower completes the assembly.
9. Here’s the completed makigami assembly for my sculpture. I have two clusters, each with shoots for five flowers.
10. Remove the flowers and paint your makigami assembly. Complete the sculpture as you normally would.
World, meet flower.
Flower, meet world.
Plastic
Introducing the world’s first
mass-produced, pre-folded
Origami flower.
Origami Paper for Flowers
by Ben Coleman
I think I’ve dreamed about manufacturing origami paper since the day I folded my first flower. Regular origami paper works, but it doesn’t create a convincing flower. No matter which folding pattern I used, I ended up with white paper peeking through petals, or worse, a flower that when flipped revealed a pure-white underbelly. I remember turning to painting because I couldn’t find suitable paper. Please don’t misunderstand; I love painting, but it’s messy, expensive, and time consuming. Worst of all, it’s a barrier for people who want to fold beautiful flowers but don’t want to make a big
investment in time and money.
I began investigating manufacturing origami paper about three years ago. I was told by a printing expert that, because origami paper is thin, it isn’t possible to print it on both sides. Specifically, the expert said the paper
wouldn’t dry. Luckily I continued my research and eventually found several printers that were willing to try.
So I spent the past few months creating color patterns. I learned a lot more about graphic design software than I ever intended. Eventually I developed a method for mixing colors in layers that is
remarkably similar to the way we paint. The designs were sent to the printer and viola, the first origami paper
designed specifically for folding flowers. Origami Bonsai brand
origami paper is here!!!
