Capital Area Paper Shapers

2010

On Folded Wings: Paper Airplanes For All Ages by Michael Weinstein

Michael Weinstein has designed some wonderful paper airplanes which he's meticulously diagrammed. He's also taken the time to include diagrams for a number of stands for the planes. "On Folded Wings" is a wealth of information for any flight or origami enthusiast. Cypress House Publishing has indicated the book is in production and they do not have a firm date as yet. This information will be updated as we receive the details. Cover Photo

January

Decorative Arts Center, Artful Paper Exhibit January - March, 2010

The Decorative Arts Center of Ohio is based in the Reese-Peters House at 145 East Main Street, Lancaster, Ohio, 43130. The phone number is 740-681-1423 and the FAX number is 740-681-2713. The Decorative Arts Center is organizing an exhibit which will present a portion of the spectrum of paper arts. Some of the art forms and artists which will be included are: origami - Jon Tucker, Dr. Michael Weinstein, CAPS group projects; shoes - Carlos Molina ; hats - Moses from the Mingei Museum Collection; paper dress - Andy Warhol; marbling and calligraphy - Merida Weinstein; Yasue Sakaoka will be participating as well as pop-up, collage, and paper sculptors. The exhibit will include paper wigs as well as paper dresses. It will be an eye opening experience for many people.

March

Decorative Arts Center

Members of Capital Area Paper Shapers, a Columbus based origami group, will be teaching origami at a workshop at the Decorative Arts Center in Lancaster on Sunday March 14th beginning at 2pm. The workshop is open to all experience levels. While children are welcome to participate, the program will be shaped for adults. The 90 minute program will cover numerous basic folds which will allow participants to continue to explore the exciting art of origami once they've finished the workshop. Paper will be provided and several models will be demonstrated. Join us for the afternoon and you'll see paper in a whole new light.

May

Marcon

This is the third year we've attended Marcon. The organizers and participants at Marcon are so receptive and helpful, it's always a pleasure to give presentations at this large alternative reality (we used to call them science fiction) convention. In addition to the three workshops we held over the weekend, we participated in the Art Show displaying a variety of models from dragons to boxes. We may return for a fourth year, if the organizers allow us to come back. The attendance at our workshops warrant an invitation to return and we'd be happy to make another appearance. Perhaps we'll see you there next year.

Asian Festival

As failures go this was pretty abysmal. Not that the festival was a failure, but our appearance, our participation at the festival can't be deemed anything more than a failure. The festival has thousands that attend each year. It's held on the grounds of the Franklin Park Conservatory. There are a variety of cultural activities and assorted foods from Asian nations. We had hoped to reach people who might be interested in origami and might not other wise learn of our activities in Columbus.

I should have known from my inability to draw a response from the organizers that CAPS participation was not noted. We were told to report to the volunteers tent and then directed to the children's area. Those of us who signed up to work the festival were at loose ends being unable to find any one with any knowledge of the schedule of events. A few of us took some space in the tent and folded and instructed the interested children. Others of us were asked to do face painting...not really the reason we were there. In an effort to make our appearance at the festival of some benefit to our purpose we handed out promotional postcards for the upcoming convention.

If we return to the Asian Festival next year it will have to be under very different circumstances. Perhaps, we'll be able to have our own tent in which we can interact with the public and teach origami. We shall see.

June

Origami USA's National Convention

Origami USA's National Convention is quite a large event. Not as large as Marcon, but considering that the panels are actually classes quite a large undertaking. The convention was held at the FIT again, and the exhibit was on site at the FIT. I believe the convention was deemed to be a success, the attendance seemed comparable to previous years.

A number of members of CAPS attended the national. Jon Tucker not only exhibited his original designs but he taught his dragonfly. Monica didn't manage to get any of the classes she wanted so she and John spent their time trying to promote CenterFold. They made numerous contacts and had a chance to visit New York Central Art Supply. This store has a tremendous selection of merchandise, including quite an array of papers. Their catalog is available by request.

The trip was concluded by a visit to the Starlite Diner and Lounge in Allentown, PA which is becoming an annual tradition. We've found this to be a clean well staffed establishment. While one wouldn't describe the meals as "fine dining", they are served with pride and care.

July

Morgan Conservatory of Papermaking

Monica Salisbury was scheduled to teach an origami workshop in July, but due to a lack of registrations the workshop was cancelled.

August

Origami - By Hand

Exhibit in the Loft Gallery at the Cultural Arts Center

August had quite a lot scheduled. We organized the exhibit, Origami - By Hand at the Cultural Arts Center, which opened at the beginning of August and which will close at the end of the month. The exhibit which was free to the public was located in the Loft Gallery. The space was smaller than what had been initially indicated but we dealt with it by limiting the invitations to a few participants. Tomoko Fuse sent several quilt pieces, David and Assia Brill sent an assortment of pieces, including Assia's Parjita Series, David's Cat, Mouse and Cheese as well as his Unstabile. Charles "Doc" Santee brought a variety of his moving creations. We were fortunate to have Robert Lang add several of his pieces, including a pair of Koi, his Walking Katydid and a large circular tessellation. And after the state fair had closed we added the blue ribbon winners from the origami competition. The exhibit closes shortly at the Cultural Arts Center but some of these pieces will be on display at the exhibit which is opening in September at the Paper Circle in Nelsonville, Ohio.

Ohio State Fair

The Ohio State Fair was very successful for us. We sponsored the Origami Division at the fair this year, and part of that sponsorship allowed us to do the "Artist in Residence" program. We were present on four days, for four hours each day, teaching and demonstrating origami to the public. We had dozens of people stop by and talk with us and ask about models, and learn to fold birds, boxes, wheels, and assorted models. In the competitions we did quite well. See the box below.

 

We had such a good time at the fair that we're all looking forward to doing it again next year.

CenterFold Origami Convention, August 20 - 22, 2010

CenterFold was held on August 20th and closed on August 22nd. We had about 165 paid participants and the feed back indicates that people had a good time. Our guests, David Brill and Tomoko Fuse pitched in teaching classes and signing autographs as well as posing for pictures. Other author/artists who attended include Robert J. Lang, John Montroll, Mette Pederson, and Michael Weinstein. Everyone was friendly and eager and helpful. It was a wonderful environment in which to fold and learn. We hope to see people return next year, and maybe they'll bring some friends with them.

Hospital Activity Kits

The Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus closed the doors some months back, to outsiders coming in to teach the children. Due to the H1N1 virus they were limiting visitiation and hopefully the spread of the virus. CAPS had made a practice of visiting the hospital to teach the children origami. Because we weren't allowed in to teach origami we came up with the hospital kits, for the activity cart. The kit is a set of directions for an origami model and several sheets of paper to fold the model which are packaged in a baggie. The children can take as many as they like from the activity cart. The kits have been a real hit.

Thanks to volunteers at the convention we have several hundred more kits to donate. I don't have a list of who all was working on the kits, but I want to thank each one of them for their efforts on this project. They worked for hours assembling kits until they had used all the supplies we had on hand. I also want to add my thanks to Robert Lang and Gilad Aharoni for granting us permission to use their diagrams for the the activity kits. It's a wonderful thing they've done and I know the children will appreciate it. Thank you all.

September

Paper Circle Exhibit

The CAPS exhibit will be installed part way through September. The opening will be the final Friday in September. Please check the Paper Circle's web site for information regarding their hours and schedule.

Paper Circle Origami Workshop

The workshop will be geared for novice folders. We are still planning what will be covered in the workshop. We want to give people an opportunity to try wet folding and thus utilize the Paper Circle's newest paper, O-gami. This new wet folding paper is available from the Paper Circle's web site, or phone them directly. It you've been looking for wet folding paper, look no further. This paper is unequaled. And it's available in a wide assortment of colors.

December

Holiday Ornament Donation

The last few years we've made ornaments for the children at the hospital. We plan to make ornaments again this year.