Upcoming Events: Orizomegami Workshop and Mother's Day Foldings

Hello World!  It has been a while since my last post.  Lately I've been sort of neglecting my blog, partly because I find it much easier and quicker to post short updates, photos and events, and not to mention to receive comments from the viewers on my Facebook page than this blog.  With that said, if you would like to see more of my work, please "Like" my Facebook page!  You will see much more updates there than here.

But today, I am posting this because I have some exciting events coming up!

I will be offering an orizomegami workshop as a part of the Newberg Artwalk at the Chehalem Cultural Center this Friday, May 3rd from 5 to 7pm.  

Not to be confused with origami.  Orizomegami means folding and dyeing paper.  It is a paper dyeing method that is used to create patterns on liquid absorbent paper.  This art form is relatively inexpensive and easy to learn and achieve beautiful results.  The variety of patterns you can create are as limitless as patterns of kaledoscope.  The finished product can be used as gift wrap, book cover, collage or card making materials, or anything else imaginable.

It is a FREE event, and you can drop in any time between 5 to 7pm to learn orizomegami!

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Also, I will be offering Mother's Day themed origami program at 3 branches of Multnomah County Library.  Here is the description of the program: Delight mom with a homemade gift this Mother’s Day. Artist Yuki Martin will teach you how to create unique origami shapes and decorations to make a card or stand-alone gift. Come transform an ordinary piece of paper into an extraordinary three-dimensional piece of art!Free.  Target audience: Families, Grades K-5, Kids. May 4th from 10:30 to 11:30am at Albina Library (first come, first served). May 4th from 2 to 3pm at Woodstock Library (registration required: HERE). May 11th from 2 to 3pm at Gresham Library (first come, first served).

Local Artist Spotlight: Take A Look Photography

A few months ago I was asked to make some origami for an anniversary photo shoot of Stephanie and Peter, clients of my friend Ashley from Take A Look Photography.  The couple used paper cranes for the decorations at their wedding so they wanted to keep the same theme for their anniversary.  What a great idea!  After having some brainstorms and discussions with Stephanie and Ashley, I made an origami bouquet and kissing paper cranes.  

I got really excited when I saw the photos, they were just how I imagined to be, or even prettier, thanks to their beautiful photographic work!

Garlands of paper cranes from their wedding were reused for this shot.

Paper craft versions of the couple themselves... so cute!

The photos and their story recently got featured on Oregon Bride Magazine.  You can read the article from HERE.  Congrats to Stephanie and Peter, Thank you Ashley for collaborating, and Thank you Oregon Bride Magazine for crediting my work!  Although it has not yet planned, Take A Look Photography and I would love to work on another project together in the future.

Here are a few other photos courtesy of Take A Look Photography.  A husband-and-wife team, they specialize in wedding and family portrait photographs in outdoor settings.  They definitely seem to bring out the best of the clients' features.

Upcoming Class: Hina Matsuri, Japanese Dolls Festival

"March 3rd is Hina Matsuri, the Japanese Dolls Festival. One of the five annual Japanese observances marking the changing seasons, this is a day that families with young girls pray for their daughters' healthy growth and happiness by displaying dolls.  Instructor Yuki Martin will teach how this special day is celebrated by making origami dolls to display.  Boys will also enjoy this workshop as Yuki teaches everyone how to make origami boxes to hold Japanese star-shaped candies."

Saturday, February 2, 2-4pm Northwest Library

*As always, this library class is FREE!  It is first come, first served.  Appropriate for school age children and families.  Please note, the date of the festival is March 3rd, but the class is on Feburary 2nd, just so you won't get confused!

Upcoming Class: Orizomegami

I'm offering this super fun program, once again at 5 Multnomah County Library locations this winter!  Wondering what in the world orizomegami is?  ORI = fold, ZOME = dye, GAMI = paper, is what the word means.

"Join artist Yuki Martin in learning the technique of orizomegami, the Japanese art of decorating papers by folding and dipping them into pools of dyes. This art form is easy to learn and creates cool, complex patterns. Your finished paper can be used as gift wrapping, a book cover, collage material and more!"

Wednesday, January 16, 6:30pm-8pm Sellwood-Moreland Library
Saturday, January 26, 3-4:30pm Albina Library
Tuesday, February 5, 4-5:30pm Hollywood Library
Wednesday, February 13, 4:30-6pm Troutdale Library
Tuesday, February, 19, 5:30-7pm Northwest Library

All classes are free.  First come first served, except for the Troutdale Library class, which requires registration  (from here).

A Journey of 2 Fairies in the Desert

Fairy model by Isamu Asahi from みんなたのしい折ってあそぶおりがみ
Folded, installed & photographed by Yuki

Visit to Hiroshima Peace Memorial

Every summer since 2006 at Willowbrook Arts Camp I teach the campers to fold 1,000 paper cranes as prayers for world peace.  Since we have hundreds of campers every day, it has never been that big of a challenge to finish folding 1,000 paper cranes, but it's a good opportunity for me to promote peace, which is one of our missions of Willowbrook.  In the past I have had some of the campers or staff members deliver the cranes to Hiroshima Peace Memorial, but this year I was able to travel to Hiroshima to do that myself for the first time.  

In case you are not familiar about the story of 1,000 paper cranes, I'll tell you now in short.  There was a Japanese girl called Sadako who got exposed to the Hiroshima atomic bomb at the age of two and developed leukemia ten years later.  After hearing of a Japanese legend that promises anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes will be granted a wish, Sadako started folding paper cranes at the hospital so she could have a wish to survive.  She eventually died, but her classmates built a monument for her and other Hiroshima children who died from the atomic bomb.  This story inspired people from all over the world, including us at Willowbrook, to contribute 1,000 in prayers for world peace.

There I was, at Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.  There are glass stalls behind Sadako's monument where people hung paper cranes.

Our paper cranes are made of magazine paper.
Not as bright as some others but recycled material.

Here are some of other paper cranes that I saw in the stalls at the park.

"Praying that there will be a peaceful world
without wars or nuclear weapons"
By a grade school in Osaka.

After visiting the Children's Peace Monument, I toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.  It's hard to visit there without being emotional, but it is a must see.  There, I saw some of the actual paper cranes that Sadako folded.

Some are very tiny, and she used a needle to fold.

Origami in Everyday Lives of Japan

Wherever I went out and about in Japan, I noticed that origami was folded into people's everyday lives, literally.  And whenever I found origami decorations in public, I took photos.  Here are some of the photos I took.

At Narita Station
Welcome to Japan poster made with origami

At a hotspring resort.
Halloween decorations that guests participated to make.

At a bookstore.
Featured books were decorated with origami.

In front of a flower shop.
A sign for tulip bulbs makes you want to buy them.

On a street.
I found a ninja star someone had left behind.

In a display case at Hiroshima Castle.
Origami samurai hats were made by children in Hiroshima.

A poster in front of a souvenir shop in Hiroshima.
Hello Kitty riding a paper crane, cuuuute!

Last but not least, at a fruit stand.
It's a tangerine orange stand that my parents have.
Of course I'm the one who made the decorations.