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Origami Pig
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 origami animal, a pig, is simple to fold and a good addition to your origami animal collection - or to start an animal collection!
There are many varieties of pigs, the most commonly known are the domestic pig and the smaller pot-bellied pig; the ancestor of both being the wild boar.
Despite their reputation, pigs are not dirty animals. They’re actually quite clean. The pig’s reputation comes from its habit of rolling in mud to cool off. Pigs that live in cool, covered environments actually stay very clean.
Also not always known is that pigs are highly social and intelligent animals - in fact pigs are among the smartest of all domesticated animals and are even smarter than dogs.
It is fun to use this origami pig to portray a pig family, making some adult size models along with several smaller or baby pigs. It can also be used to decorate a birthday card for someone who was born in the Year of the Pig or Boar. This happens every 12 years in the Chinese Zodiac, including 1947 - 1959 - 1971 - 1983 - 1995 - 2007.
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
