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Creator
Paul Hoffman
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English
Figurative
Money
Other
Lincoln, NE
United States
About Paul
February 13th, 2022
Greetings to all my fellow folders! My name is Paul, I am a professional Librarian, and live in Nebraska (central United States).
I have been an avid folder for more than 45 years and (as budget has allowed) have collected Origami books and diagrams for almost as long. My favorite book—as much for sentimental reasons as any other—is my heavily used copy of Secrets of Origami by one of the Origami Masters: Robert Harbin. I purchased it in the early 1970’s and it set aflame my love of paper folding more than any other book, before or since.
About four years ago I decided to put aside folding other peoples’ excellent work for a while and try my hand(s) at folding my own creative models. It has been one of the most challenging and rewarding artistic endeavors of my life, resulting in about 50 models (so far). Most of them are prototypes, though many show great promise with need for little tweaking; others still need a great deal of refinement. Still, all show I am on the right path to models/themes from which I can derive satisfaction.
You can see many, though not all of these (I am continuing to fold new prototypes and as well as adding photographs to my Origami web site), at the following URL: https://paulshoffman.wixsite.com/origamihakken.
While I have little experience with specialty papers and foils (budget, again), I have also done a significant amount of folding using fabrics. I heartily endorse this Origami niche--the results are remarkable and quite durable.
My desire now is to move from hand-diagramming my models (satisfying but terribly time-consuming) to tackling the process with a program like InkScape. (There seems to be a number of fine online resources that assist with crease patterns, but very little in the way of user-friendly applications devoted to the step-by-step design process that doesn’t involve a steep learning curve, programing expertise, or are anathema Windows. Please prove me wrong and let me know if you have recommendations! I have a Wacom tablet, if that helps. (Oh, how I wish Foldinator had been updated and was available in any iteration…I’d gladly beta test it!)
To flesh my bio out a bit, I also enjoy writing (I’m working on three, non-Origami-related books); kayaking; kite flying and construction; camping/hiking; photography*; Tai Chi; percussion; graphic arts; voracious reading of books and articles across several few genres and sub-genres; bicycling; dreaming of working with others to construct a quite granular, metadata rich, and highly searchable data base of regional origami models**; and making sure my portable hammock is put to good use during the warmer months.
I look forward to contributing to CFC Origami and, I am hopeful, hearing from some of its members!
Paul in Nebraska
* Photography Website: https://paulshoffman.wixsite.com/paul
** I have created a “mind map” of how, behind-the-scenes, the database might work. Let me know if you would like to see the (rather daunting) diagram. I’d be happy to send it to you, or see if I can post hit here.
Greetings to all my fellow folders! My name is Paul, I am a professional Librarian, and live in Nebraska (central United States).
I have been an avid folder for more than 45 years and (as budget has allowed) have collected Origami books and diagrams for almost as long. My favorite book—as much for sentimental reasons as any other—is my heavily used copy of Secrets of Origami by one of the Origami Masters: Robert Harbin. I purchased it in the early 1970’s and it set aflame my love of paper folding more than any other book, before or since.
About four years ago I decided to put aside folding other peoples’ excellent work for a while and try my hand(s) at folding my own creative models. It has been one of the most challenging and rewarding artistic endeavors of my life, resulting in about 50 models (so far). Most of them are prototypes, though many show great promise with need for little tweaking; others still need a great deal of refinement. Still, all show I am on the right path to models/themes from which I can derive satisfaction.
You can see many, though not all of these (I am continuing to fold new prototypes and as well as adding photographs to my Origami web site), at the following URL: https://paulshoffman.wixsite.com/origamihakken.
While I have little experience with specialty papers and foils (budget, again), I have also done a significant amount of folding using fabrics. I heartily endorse this Origami niche--the results are remarkable and quite durable.
My desire now is to move from hand-diagramming my models (satisfying but terribly time-consuming) to tackling the process with a program like InkScape. (There seems to be a number of fine online resources that assist with crease patterns, but very little in the way of user-friendly applications devoted to the step-by-step design process that doesn’t involve a steep learning curve, programing expertise, or are anathema Windows. Please prove me wrong and let me know if you have recommendations! I have a Wacom tablet, if that helps. (Oh, how I wish Foldinator had been updated and was available in any iteration…I’d gladly beta test it!)
To flesh my bio out a bit, I also enjoy writing (I’m working on three, non-Origami-related books); kayaking; kite flying and construction; camping/hiking; photography*; Tai Chi; percussion; graphic arts; voracious reading of books and articles across several few genres and sub-genres; bicycling; dreaming of working with others to construct a quite granular, metadata rich, and highly searchable data base of regional origami models**; and making sure my portable hammock is put to good use during the warmer months.
I look forward to contributing to CFC Origami and, I am hopeful, hearing from some of its members!
Paul in Nebraska
* Photography Website: https://paulshoffman.wixsite.com/paul
** I have created a “mind map” of how, behind-the-scenes, the database might work. Let me know if you would like to see the (rather daunting) diagram. I’d be happy to send it to you, or see if I can post hit here.
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