Design by the Book, Hand-Made

A Paper Sculpted Goldfish. by Jessica PigzaMarch 16, 2010

Included among the books I brought out for last month's Handmade Crafternoon was one that I've been slow to return to the shelves because I want to try my hand at so many projects within it. The book in question is Kenneth Ody's Paper Folding and Paper Sculpture, and I'm a fan because it contains a really broad range of projects--from cute little projects like dog scuptures to some seriously elegant lacy paper globes.

I've tried just one project so far, a goldfish that gets its three-dimentional structure through a simple woven tail that helps to form the fish's cupped body.  Here's how Ody explains how to make the fish:


 

I'm impressed with the simplicity of execution and the means of creating a paper sculpture without the use of adhesives.  I always enjoy finding unexpected inspiration (like this fish pattern) in the stacks when preparing book offerings for each month's Handmade Crafternoon.  I hope that you enjoy browsing through the books too--if you ever have questions about them just let me know.  At March 20th's Handmade Crafternoon I will have ready a spread of books all about handsewn toys and puppets, so do keep an eye out here for more details about the event later this week.

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Comments

Patron-generated content represents the views and interpretations of the patron, not necessarily those of The New York Public Library. For more information see NYPL's Website Terms and Conditions.

Pax, the Cardboard Robot

Submitted by (not verified) on March 20, 2010 - 7:25pm

You can make your own cardboard robot too! Easy to follow instructions! Join the Pax evolution. Twitter @Pax_101 or Pax101 on Facebook.

Paper sculpted goldfish

Submitted by (not verified) on April 22, 2010 - 2:45pm

Just discovered this entry. Wow! So elegant! However, it was very disappointing to find that there is no copy of the recommended book available to borrow. What a teaser. Will NYPL be getting more copies of this?

I'm glad that you liked this goldfish too!

Submitted by Jessica Pigza on April 24, 2010 - 10:56am

You're right, Ody's book is in the Library's onsite reference use collection at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. It's an older book--from 1965--and you'll typically find older and out-of-print vintage treasures like this in the collections in this building. The downside is, like you said, that you can't check it out. But you can come to the Library and read it, copy from it, and even take digital photos of pages to take home that way if you wish. And since it's for onsite use only, it's always here. If you have questions about accessing this book, please let me know.

pax

Submitted by (not verified) on April 22, 2010 - 2:50pm

I did not understand this. When I searched for pax 101 very strange websites came up. Has this recommendation been reviewed?

The pax suggestion was a user comment...

Submitted by Jessica Pigza on April 24, 2010 - 10:48am

...and was not one recommended by the Library, so I'm afraid that I can't give you any further ideas about what the commenter meant. I'm sorry.

paper sculpture

Submitted by ody (not verified) on November 22, 2010 - 3:27am

I am delighted to find that people still appreciate my father's book ! We have recently had to sort out my parent's former house and have several copies of this ....maybe we ought to send one to US ?