Books

The Origami Diagram Book, Beth Johnson and Ilan Garibi

This is a book project I worked on in collaboration with Ilan Garibi. The book celebrates the art of origami diagrams and features 28 never-before-published original origami designs from 31 different artists around the world. Using a variety of techniques from watercolor, pen and ink, colored pencils and digital freehand illustration, the book showcases the art of diagramming at its best. The diagrams draw you in and inspire you to fold. It was an absolute joy and privilege to work on this project and I feel grateful that all the artists put their trust in us to make this book. We also are grateful to Nicolas Terry who took a leap of faith to help us publish this book. I also have one model included in this collection, a spiral shell.

Beth Johnson model available in this book:

New Expressions in Origami Art: Masterworks from 25 Leading Paper Artists, Meher McCarthur

From Amazon: This origami art book features the work of 25 contemporary master folders who are among the most innovative origami artists working today. They are pushing the boundaries of origami vigorously in new directions concerning style, scale, materials, subject and scope. This elite group includes:

• Joel Cooper

• Erik Demaine and Martin Demaine

• Paul Jackson

• Beth Johnson

• Michael G. LaFosse and Richard L. Alexander

• Robert J. Lang

• Linda Mihara

• Bernie Peyton

• Richard Sweeney

• And many more…

The stunning photos and brilliant essays in this book demonstrate why origami is now an international art movement—largely through the efforts and artistic genius of a few contemporary masters. The trailblazing efforts of Japanese artist Akira Yoshizawa elevated the paper folding to an art form by showing how subtle shapes and figures could be created from a single sheet of paper through a variety of non-traditional folding techniques.

Artists in other parts of the world—including the United States, France, England, China and Scandinavia—took Yoshizawa's cue and pushed these techniques further and further. The result has been the emergence of many new and surprising sculptural forms created through methods such as wet folding, curved creasing, tessellating and the application of alternative materials besides paper.

The stunning photography and interesting information on artists, exhibitions and inspirations, makes this the perfect coffee table book or gift for any art lover.