Propellerheads Originally uploaded by EricGjerde. We’ve been talking a lot in the Origami Tessellations group on Flickr about “flagstone” tessellations, so named by Joel Cooper for their distinctive look. They are a favorite of his, and since his work is where we were introduced to the concept, the name seems quite appropriate. There’s a lot of weird folding voodoo that goes on with these folds, which we’ve all been trying to figure out and explain; some of us much better than others- Peter, Lorenzo, and Jorge having more luck here due to their mathematical orientation. I’ve noticed a strange correlation between iso-area folds and the “flagstone” process, and in trying to understand it I started folding a simple, offset iso-area square twist (seen in the picture above). However, since I’m folding with elephant hide, it has a very nice sculptural quality to it, and makes some very nice curved shapes. So I “froze” the squashing process half way, making these rather interesting 3d puffs. I like the way it introduces a curving element to the …

So, Origami Tessellations (in the guise of Eric Gjerde) will be travelling to “Il Convegno del CDO in Verbania, Italy, on December 8-10. I should be rolling into Milan on the 7th, and heading back out sometime later on the next week (13th? 15th? something like that.) Right now I’ve got an open schedule, other than that Friday through Sunday, so if any other origami/math/design/art freaks in that region of Europe want to meet up I’ll be in the area. I’m contemplating staying in Milan for a day or two and then maybe checking out Firenze, although that’s all utterly unknown right now. Anybody have suggestions as to what I should go see? It’s going to be wintertime, but I think I can handle whatever Italy can throw at me- I do live in the coldest state in the continental US. There’s so much to see that I’m having a bit of cultural overload. I might have a travelling partner (my much cooler younger brother) to boot, if I’m lucky. If you’ve got some hints, …

Lightbox Originally uploaded by Owesen. Astounding. Fredrik Owesen has a fantastic tessellation mixing illustration and non-regular polygons. This is the sort of irregular pleating that I have dreamed of making, and here it is! Again, Fredrik produces some first-rate work, showing us all something new and wonderful. Make sure to look at it large size and check it out!

Arabesque Flourish, close-up Originally uploaded by EricGjerde. Another organic shape exploration, becoming increasingly architectural with each new thing I fold. Not exactly sure where I’m heading with all of this but it’s an interesting process nonetheless. For what it’s worth, this is my 2000th photo uploaded to flickr. It’s been an interesting year or so, hasn’t it?

Organic Abstract Originally uploaded by sipmab. So I’ve been doing a lot of organic pleat folding lately, and several people have mentioned to me that what I’m doing resembles work done by Paul Jackson. This led me to go back and look through some of his work- you can see his gallery here. It’s really just amazing stuff. I’m trying to head down a slightly different path, but his work is very inspiring- I’d love to see more of it! This image is from sipmab’s photostream on Flickr, from the Hangar 7 origami expo. It’s one of Paul Jackson’s organic pieces. Much thanks for posting and sharing this on Flickr!