By Katerina Christhilf for Origami Kindness The Art of Origami By Katerina Christhilf for Origami Kindness

History Paper was first invented in China around 100 A.D. It was introduced to Japan around 500 A.D. Paper folding is thought to have begun in Japan around 700 A.D. Origami likely started for ceremonial and spiritual purposes, such as folded paper strips called shide that were used in purification rituals During the Heian period (794-1185), the Japanese nobility folded paper, including paper purses carried by gentlemen The nobility began to form paper creatures, including paper butterflies used to decorate rice wine Around 1300, a tradition of paper gift-wrapping began and developed into an important form of etiquette As paper became more widely available in the 1700s, books began to be published about folding origami Folding origami cranes became particularly popular

History (Continued) Other cultures also folded paper, though they developed origami later and it was not quite as popular as in Japan The Chinese began to fold paper around 1000 A.D. The Arabs learned rom the Chinese and spread it to Spain and Germany An origami enthusiast named Friedrich Frobel (1782-1852) taught children origami to help them develop motor skills, and this increased the popularity of origami in Germany In 1868, supporters of the emperor toppled the military regime, and the emperor was more open to Western influence This created an intermingling of Japanese and European forms of origami and further spread Japanese origami Since then, globalization has spread origami to many other areas of the world

Current Folders Rose by Robert J. Lang Robert J. Lang: an American physicist who uses geometric principles to create unique and elaborate origami Brian Chan: a mechanical engineer who uses mathematics to fold insects Satoshi Kamiya: imagines origami folds in his mind and refolds them in paper Tran Trung: creates accurate paper models of dinosaurs Joel Cooper: creates origami masks of historic and imaginary characters Yoshizawa: created the wet-water folding technique, which gives origami a more natural look Vincent Floderer: creates unconventional origami using crumpling, dampening, and stretching, with often abstract designs

Techniques Origami is typically made using a square sheet of paper, though it can be made with any shape of paper and/or multiple sheets Some artists use scissors and a variety of coloring tools Tessellation: a repeating pattern used to fill a plane without gaps or overlaps; typically uses pleats, twist folds, etc. Wet-folding: smoothing down sharp angles and points with water

More Techniques

Creating an Origami Model There are thousands of origami models available in books and online for folders of all abilities However, advanced folders sometimes prefer to create their own models Some people just imagine the design they want in their heads and then try using paper until they achieve the desired result Others go straight to the paper and try different folds to see what they create Many use mathematical ideals to diagram a model using paper and pencil before folding it with paper Recently, artists have started using computer systems to create origami models Try any of these methods or create your own to make a unique origami figure!

Thank You for Reading! Works Cited Hall, Judy W. Christmas Origami. Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, 2001. Lang, Robert J. "A3 Rose, Opus 718." 2017, http://www.langorigami.com/artwork/a3- rose-opus-718. Accessed 26 Apr. 2017. McArthur, Meher and Robert J. Lang. Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami. Tuttle Publishing, 2013. Van Sicklen, Margaret. The Joy of Origami. Workman Publishing, 2005.