Life, Death and Paperfolding

Welcome

This will be an occasional blog about life, death and paperfolding, though probably not in that order. I will use it to get excited about things I find out about paperfolding history, post links to origami diagrams, puzzles and novelties, old and new, and quite possibly for other things that interest me as well. There won't be any political rants. I promise. Honestly.

I live in the United Kingdom, in the rather lovely seaside village of Arnside, in Cumbria, just south of the Lake District, which is famous for its tidal bore and sometimes infamous for its treacherous sands. We also have fabulous sunsets, as you can see from the photo above. Just behind our home is Arnside Knott, an isolated hill with amazing views in all directions across Morecambe Bay and to the Lake District mountains. I try to tear myself away from my computer and wander up it at least once a week.

As many of you know, paperfolding has been my hobby since 1964, when I was 12 years old. At first, like most paperfolders, I was attracted to folding complicated designs, but as I grew older, and possibly wiser, though that seems to be a matter of some doubt among my family, I began to appreciate the beauty of simplicity, and most of my creative effort has been dedicated to trying to make my designs as simple as possible, to find ways to remove detail without losing the essence of the subject. I am also very attracted to modular origami (using the simplest possible modules, of course), puzzles set or solved by folding paper, and folded paper novelties of all kinds.

I am retired and spend much of my time researching paperfolding history, which is an endless source of interest and amazement.

The paperfolder I most admire is Robert E Neale, whose work epitomises everything that I would wish my own to be. 

I leave you with this Cormorant. Real ones are a common sight in the estuary here.