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My Folding Philosophy

When I began to fold in the early ‘80s, I was seduced by the idea that “complex is best,” that you should work on your technique until you can produce complicated designs that take many hours to fold. As I folded more and spoke with other intelligent folders, I began to realize that complexity doesn’t always mean quality. I started to recognize the beauty in simplicity and elegance, and it had a marked effect on the type of designs I created.

When creating for pleasure, I work almost exclusively with simple designs. One unexpected difficulty I’ve encountered is that it can be hard to decide when a design is finished. I question every step of the sequence to ensure it is necessary and try not to add detail for its own sake. Why should an animal have four legs? Is it important to make the model more “realistic”? Origami should aim to capture the spirit of the subject, more like a sketch or cartoon than a photograph.

The aim of any serious creator is to develop a style of their own. This cannot be forced, but must evolve over time. Some people are lucky and seem to have a coherent style from the outset, but I have not found this to be the case with my work! I just look for whatever inspires me and to stay true to my own ideals. I am lucky to have my good friend, Wayne Brown, who is always happy to tell me if a new model isn’t as brilliant as I think it is! He also gives me some indication as to how original the design might be and whether I may have inadvertently recreated a design I had seen some years before—it does happen. While a modest ego is probably a good thing, we should never fall into the trap of thinking we are something special—everything I fold is to some extent built upon the work of others who have willingly shared their work before I even began. We stand on the shoulders of giants.

Origami is also hugely important to me as a means to develop friendships and to learn about different cultures. I have traveled to origami events around the world and always seem to find new friends. I believe that were paper to somehow vanish overnight, the bonds of friendship would still remain.