Japanese paper amazes me, it is beautiful with its texture and delicate fibers but it is also strong and more resilient than ordinary wood based paper. The strength of paper comes from the long fibres used of the kozo bush (paper Mulberry), gampi tree and mistsumata shrub (Edgeworthia chrysantha) and the technique of crafting this paper that was developed over 500 years ago in Japan.
The making of Japanese paper is considered by the United Nations Education Science Cultural Organization UNESCO a craft of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Today, the art and craft of papermaking is being challenged as there are fewer craftsmen that are willing to go through the multiple labour intensive steps, only 250 family-run studios carry on the tradition.
The Japanese Paper Place (where I get my beautiful selection) gives some great information on the history and process of Japanese paper making.
https://www.japanesepaperplace.com/papermaking-in-japan/
The beauty of the paper is what drew me to use Japanese paper to make my light sculptures and light frames but strength and resilience are equally as important. I know that paper is delicate and may not be able to withstand some of the rigors of a busy household (the cat using the light sculpture as toy, the dog sweeping it off the table with an over-enthusiastic tail wag, or game of catch in the house that did not go as planned) so if the paper portion of the table light sculpture (https://betweenartandlight.com/collections/lamps) is damaged and you can return the damaged portion to me I will make a replacement for a small fee to cover the paper and supplies. I want to make sure that you are secure that you will be able to continue to enjoy your light sculpture without worrying about the delicate nature of it.
As always I would love to hear from you- feedback is a gift and it helps me to make the pieces better!
With much gratitude
Gayle
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My first introduction to RAW was through Shopify and attending a learning session with one of the Shopify team suggested that my work would be a good fit at this type of event. I looked into the RAW website and was quickly accepted to join the showcase. All the correspondences with the RAW team were very professional and informative and I had some very personal one-on-one conversations with one of the organizers David Pattee as he took the time to explain the set up and he asked if I wanted to be one of the artists that would be interviewed for a segment on the local Rogers Community channel to promote the show. I was pretty nervous about doing the interview but thought I could not pass up on this opportunity to show my work and discuss origami and let everyone know the importance of origami and how it impacts so many aspects of our lives.
The RAW event organizers had an information session where we could look at the space at Saint Brigid's - I have to say it is pretty impressive putting on a show in a deconsecrated church, all the artwork and statues still preside over the space and the light and huge vaulted ceilings of the church is magnificent during the day but at night it is a whole different atmosphere- the stage, thumping music, amazing costumes, fashion all made for a wild display in the church. And down below the visual artists had their stations filled with impressive art - skulls, mixed media with gears and doll parts, fine detailed portraits, photographic landscapes, makeup artists preparing their models with detailed imaginative works. All the art was amazing from so many varied and talented artists and I had my booth right at the entrance of the visual art section!
Arriving for setup 3 hours before the event was the right amount of time to get it all set up - this with help from my wonderful daughter! People arrived, friends arrived, more people arrived and asked questions, they liked the set up for my display and I got to talk origami, tessellations, Japanese paper, LED lights and the night went by very quickly. Having my wonderful friends come out to the event really made my night!
Was it a successful event?… on a number of counts, it was a great event! I think it is the catalyst to get my name and work out to the public. It is a slow process and I know that all of these events will start to snowball and make a difference in the future- but I have to be patient enough!
Will I do another RAW event? Yes I think it is a great organization that does exactly as it sets out to do - give an opportunity to new and emerging artists a platform to show their work. The organizers really care about the talent that are part of the show and want them to succeed. The online interface for the artist works and RAW works really hard to promote the show and make for a good experience for the artist - but ultimately it is still up to the artist to do the groundwork selling tickets, promoting and follow up after the show. So Yes I will do another show, but I need time to regroup and regenerate before I tackle another one.
Here is more information on the RAW International:
https://rawartists.com/what-is-raw
The RAW showcase that I was just apart of:
https://rawartists.com/ottawa/arise
Roger’s Ottawa clip with my interview about my work and the RAW Show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awtMFskbQTw
Until the next show … will it be a quieter Christmas Sip and Shop?
With so much gratitude
Gayle
PS I could not have done it all without the support of my family and friends but I have to give a special thanks to my wonderful daughter Ellaina who drove, setup, kept me hydrated and fed, and then helped pack up at midnight - cannot say how much I love her!
PPS Huge number of great photos from RAW Event supplied by the hard-working photogrpahers Bing Wen and Petr Maur!
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https://phys.org/news/2015-01-origamimathematics-creasing.html
]]>I am still at the beginning of my journey with origami and that I have a lot to learn. I struggle with my inner critic and the resistance that Pressfield talks about and the inner dialogue “Am I worthy of doing this work?”, “Am I good enough?”. There are so many more origami artists that are skilled in their craft that it makes me humble to see what they are creating. I know that I have so much to learn and just want to be able to show up and do the work to continue to learn. I am my own critic and I am the one that prevents me from moving forward.
I know that being late to the game that I have to bring something different to the craft and I hope to be able to marry the beauty of origami with light and with the combination of the two bring something different. I love trying to solve the problems of combing lighting with paper and the issues of the structure of paper - the translucence and fragility, with the technical aspect of lighting.
I am learning so much from generous people all around me and I promise them and myself to fight the resistance that keeps all of us from doing what we need to do to make ourselves and the world just a little bit better!
Patience is persistence and I hope to have both!
With gratitude
G Y Nakamoto
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I have had wonderful email correspondences with amazing artists such as Michal Kosmulski who without hesitation answered my emails - he has such a wonderful website https://michal.kosmulski.org/origami/index.html with so much information and beautiful pieces that he puts out for free on how to fold these amazing pieces.
I picked up Ilan Garibi’s wonderful book Origami Tesselations for Everyone and I continue to learn so much from it everytime I look through it. Ilan who lives in Israel also was quick to reply to my emails and was so kind and supportive and also allowed me to license some of his work.
David Brill https://brilliantorigami.com/ author and such a vital member of the British Origami Society was a very dear and helpful in helping me to contact other origami artists such as J.C. Nolan http://www.creatingorigami.com/ and Mr. Nolan also generously has allowed me to use his pieces.
Over and over again I have been blown away by how helpful each of these very talented origami artists has been with me. The origami community wants to share their love of origami with as many people as possible and I feel so lucky that I found this group of generous people and hope that I can help to spread this love of this very special art to a whole new group of people.
With much gratitude
G.Y. Nakamoto-Jancewicz
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I have been prepping for a better part of the week for this event at the Maker Space and the excitement mounts as I get ready for my first craft fair! I have safely packed all my pieces in their boxes. I have double checked my petty cash, my card reader, snacks, water and oh yes lots of A/C cords to make sure that I can power all my lights. I pack up the car, try several configurations as the large screen and cart take up a good portion of my little Mazda hatchback... not leaving much room for my actual origami LED frames fitting in.
I arrive at the loading dock of the warehouse where the event is happening and it is Hot in the warehouse! I find my table and start setting up - there never seems to be enough time but I manage to get mostly done before the first people show up. My first thought is... will all the pieces have power and turn on! And thank the origami Gods they all do!
I was fortunate enough to speak with lots of lovely people who were very interested in how the pieces were made. I saw some familiar faces that I had not seen for many years and I also met some other origami enthusiasts who made my night. I love to talk to people about origami and Japanese paper and I had some great experience doing just that! The event was over quickly and it was time to pack up, maybe not the financial success but worth it in experience and letting more people know about the business.
When and where will I do my next event? Sign up on my email list and you will be the first to know!
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