Origami Ikebana: Create Lifelike Paper Flower Arrangements (Instructional Videos), (Paperback)

Publishers Weekly,Coleman, who was initially inspired in papercraft by an origami book his father brought home at Christmas in 1974, got serious in 1996 when he quit his teaching job and made origami ikebana a new way of life and of making a living. He combines the techniques and disciplines of ikebana (Japanese flower arranging), makigami (paper rolling), and origami (paper folding). The materials he uses are simple and cheap (plain photocopy paper, for example, serves as material for petals). Realistic-looking boulder bases for his minimalist creations belie their composition of wadded-up newspaper sheets. (These bases, once coated in a glue-like solution, must be cooked in a hot car, by the way.) Even beginners should benefit from the eight different leaves and 30 different flowers represented. Should the multiple illustrations for ivy leaf veins or primrose petals leave the crafter ready to crush an unfinished creation and aim it at the nearest waste receptacle, a patience-restoring DVD, in which the author walks the listener through every step described in the book, is included. The author strives for realism, and lush photo illustrations bear this out. But the not-entirely-natural outcomes are better described as art than as realism. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.,Publishers Weekly,Publishers Weekly,Coleman, who was initially inspired in papercraft by an origami book his father brought home at Christmas in 1974, got serious in 1996 when he quit his teaching job and made origami ikebana a new way of life and of making a living. He combines the techniques and disciplines of ikebana (Japanese flower arranging), makigami (paper rolling), and origami (paper folding). The materials he uses are simple and cheap (plain photocopy paper, for example, serves as material for petals). Realistic-looking boulder bases for his minimalist creations belie their composition of wadded-up newspaper sheets. (These bases, once coated in a glue-like solution, must be cooked in a hot car, by the way.) Even beginners should benefit from the eight different leaves and 30 different flowers represented. Should the multiple illustrations for ivy leaf veins or primrose petals leave the crafter ready to crush an unfinished creation and aim it at the nearest waste receptacle, a patience-restoring DVD, in which the author walks the listener through every step described in the book, is included. The author strives for realism, and lush photo illustrations bear this out. But the not-entirely-natural outcomes are better described as art than as realism. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.