Ever since I was a youngster in school, paper has held a fascination for me. In the primary grades, when students had finished all their work, they would go to the teacher's desk and help themselves to a wonderfully pliant tea paper on which to draw until their heart's content - or the bell rang. No one told us tea paper was about the most inexpensive paper one could buy; it wouldn't have mattered, since the joy of drawing with all those colourful crayons was our main focus.

Paper was invented in China about the first century AD, from there, Buddist monks brought it to Japan. The art of paper making spread from North Africa to Spain with the Moors.

Tesuki Washi, or handmade Japanese paper, is used in the Art of Origami. The word "Origami" means to fold. (oru - to fold; kami - paper) The word was invented in the latter part of the 19th century, Origami previously was known as Onkata.

Joseph Wu, who was a computer student at the UBC and now lives in Sopporro, Japan, maintains a very comprehensive site fully covering the art of Origami with many interesting and artistic samples for viewing. Learn about the various types of paper used in Origami, their composition, washi production methods, and a method for preparing paper unparalleled for folding. This site has it all with much information on resources and finding supplies.(Diagrams are available for some examples.) Joseph has kindly given me permission to reproduce a couple of his works for which I thank him.

Joseph Wu. Taken in 1994 at the Dr.Sun Yat Sen Memorial Garden in Vancouver's Chinatown. I'm holding a John Montroll lobster that I folded out of a single uncut 4-foot square of paper

When pigs grow wings and fly.

Western Dragon

Designed to complement Kawasaki's Rose published in Kasahara's Oragami for the Connoisseur.

Joseph Wu's Origami Page

Other URLs of interest:

The Japenses Paper Store

Tetsu - Japanese Paper and Incense

In Victorian days, the art of Quilling, or paper rolling, was very popular and seems to enjoy a comeback every so often. Long, thin strips of paper were wound around a feather or porcupine quill producing circular or oval shapes that could be creased in a variety of ways.

Tools and paper may be purchased for this activity, but not necessary, as a toothpick and carefully cut strands of paper will produce a decent pattern. Some of the basic shapes and a small example are shown below, but for more examples and resources, visit England, where Lesley and Brian maintain a site devoted to Quilling, Celtic Art, and Calligraphy.

Lesley and Brian's Page

Eagle - Quilling

Quilling Page - basic with illustrations

Aunt Annie's Craft Page - Patterns, instructions, and more

Scientific American magazine ran a paper airplane contest a few years ago with one of the winning designs being chosen for building a prototype of the real thing. The amazing thing about this story is that the designer was an amateur and had no concept of Bernoulli's Principle (the basic principle of flight). Afterwards, he was quoted as saying he never would have produced such a design if he had known the basic precepts of flight design.

There have been many books on the market with patterns for producing paper airplanes. The following sites have information on designing, creating and flying the paper planes. A fun project for all ages.

The Paper Air Machines - design - create - fly. Free F16 pattern available

An Unusual Paper Airplane

Paper Airplane Hangar Page - software for paper airplanes, tips, links

Yamaha Paper Craft

Marion

The author is a member of

Click here for audio download