Moneybird

Today's model is the ever-popular dollar bill peacock. This is a fun model to make, although some of the finer details are rather difficult to do -- the head and legs become pretty thick with layers. It's a fun trick at parties, though.

The dollar bill peacock was designed by Adolfo Cerceda. Folding instructions may be found in Practical Origami by Rick Beech.

Silver and gold cube

This is the silver and gold cube (aka the "Burl Ives cube") which currently resides at my friend Kate's house. This lovely modular design consists of 12 identical units fitted together into a cube and takes advantage of the dual-sidedness of origami paper, incorporating the reverse side into the pattern.

My first attempt at this design was affectionately called the "skunk box"; it was black with white stripes. Alas, it did not survive moving day, perishing along with some of my other, fragile, possessions.

The silver and gold box is notable because I did not use two-sided silver-and-gold foil paper. (I now own such paper, but that is beside the point.) I was pretty set on the color scheme, so I actually made 12 separate units consisting of 1 sheet of gold foil placed atop 1 sheet of silver foil very carefully folded together as if it was one piece. (A saner person would have glued the sheets together.) So this piece is ultimately constructed of a hefty 24 sheets of paper.

This cube was designed by Lewis Simon. A folding sequence for it may be found in Practical Origami by Rick Beech.

Industrial crane

I love paper. I love the feel of paper. I love the smell of paper. I even love the sound of paper, when I riffle* through an old book or wave a large piece of cardstock through the air.

But, y'know... sometimes you want something more than just paper.

The medium for this piece is some nifty aluminum wire mesh I picked up from my local art-n-craft store. It's normally used as a framework for sculpting, so it's cuttable and bendable but stiff. This piece was originally formed from a 6" square of the stuff. It is 5 1/4" long with a 5 5/8" wingspan.

As will all the other photos on this site, you may click on it to display a larger version. Be advised, however, that this image is considerably larger than normal -- I loved the intricacies of the mesh that were caught by the camera, and I hated to shrink the file.

* Yeah, it's not a real word. You know what I mean.