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Origami Harvest or Holiday Wreath
Mary Ellen Palmeri
Welcome to our monthly "Origami Page". Origami is folding paper and ending up with delightful figures and models, such as flowers, boxes and animals. This feature will showcase a different origami model in each monthly issue, with diagrams and photos to help readers learn how to fold them. Most models use one square of paper, some use a rectangle, and others use more than one piece of paper.
Photo by Mary Ellen Palmeri
This month's model is an example of modular origami, which consists of folding several pieces in exactly the same way, then interlocking them together to form a more complex shape. Usually glue is not necessary to hold everything together, but often a few small touches will insure that your model will stay together. Note: Don't add glue until you've put all eight pieces together to be sure they fit together evenly.
I don't recall who first showed me this model, so I don't know who the original designer is, but I diagrammed it from memory. The finished model needs eight squares of the same size paper. The most commonly found origami paper measures about 6" square, and if used for this wreath, your finished model will be almost 10.5" wide. If you cut 6" squares into 4 equal pieces of 3" each, the results will be a wreath about 5.25" wide. For results that can be used on a greeting card you'd need to use 2" squares, or smaller. Two-inch squares will give you a wreath a little larger than 3.5" wide. For a door decoration try using 12" squares to yield a model almost 24" wide. If you make one this large you can have fun adding decorative touches and personalize to taste.
Happy folding!
Origami originated in ancient Asian cultures and has been adapted by contemporary artists worldwide to reflect their own cultures. Local artist Mary Ellen Palmeri has incorporated paper folding into many of her mixed media art paintings, and teaches origami classes locally and nationally. Some of her work can be seen in a Tucson Happenings feature here: Artist_Profile
Ms. Palmeri's original origami models have been published in books and magazines, she has been featured on broadcast media, and her mixed-media fine art works often include various original origami models. Origami LAFF (Lyric Arts Folding Fest) is a Tucson based club founded by Ms. Palmeri to provide a venue for sharing this art. The group meets monthly at a local library; for more details please contact the artist at info@lyric-arts.com
