The most recent origami booklet I’ve made is from a woodcut I carved and printed in 1973. It’s called Forth Form Variation and is from a series I did playing around with several shapes. I used two pine boards that I lined up to make the whole image. I have loved trees since childhood and I enjoyed making an image that felt powerful to me.
When I measured the actual print size, I saw that if I cut the print in four, I could wind up with different sized square booklets. After I made the first cut, I flipped the parts of the original around and placed them next to each other to create different designs. I’ve got a photo of one of these arrangements below. This is a process I’ve always enjoyed. I used a variation of it in some of my prints. I’d print the original block in different colours and overlap the colours in two stages, orienting them in opposite directions. I loved the surprising designs that emerged.
Here’s also photos of the first of the four booklets. I kept it quite simple, only adding a bit of colour with Pitt markers.
And late last week I uploaded the transformed print from my July 20th post to my etsy shop.
Fourth Form Variation, Woodcut, ©1973, Lily S. May under previous married name, Susan Barsel-Herman.
Arts of May 