ABOUT THE ORIGAMI COLLECTION THAT ISN'T MADE OF PAPER

Origami is the Japanese art of folding various motifs from paper. The most common inspiration comes from animals and flowers. The history of origami dates back to approximately the 9th century, when folded paper was used to decorate Shinto shrines and directly in ceremonies. As an enjoyable activity, origami folding spread during the 17th century. In the 19th century, it became a recognized art form. Perhaps the most famous folded piece is the origami crane (see photo). However, paper folding is not an invention of the Japanese. Wherever paper was known, it was folded in various ways, without the creators knowing of each other.

Photo by Carolina Garcia Tavizon on Unsplash

I started toying with the idea of the Origami collection in 2015. For a long time, though, I didn't know how to approach it. I bought iron-on transfers and manually cut out origami animals from them according to my templates, which I then ironed onto textiles (bags, ties, etc.). Nicely, piece by piece…

For porcelain and glass, I managed to get decals that were heat-fixed (approx. 180°C). I also cut these according to patterns and then applied them directly to mugs and glasses. I probably don't need to say how intricate and time-consuming this work was. And the result wasn't always perfect. Moreover, I was afraid that the decals would scratch over time (they definitely couldn't go in the dishwasher). I sold off the finished products and stopped thinking about origami motifs for a while.

At the beginning of 2021, I started gathering information about the technique of professional decals, which are fired in a ceramic kiln at 800°C after being applied to porcelain. The more I learned about them, the more it occurred to me that origami motifs would be ideal for the first attempts. I had the digital designs ready for 6 years; all I needed to do was fine-tune them and add a few new animals. All my motifs are based on real origami folds, but not all of them were suitable for 2D representation. However, it took more than half a year before I had the finished decal sheets from the printer.

You can put porcelain with origami decals in the dishwasher. However, there are some "buts." I definitely wouldn't put decorated vintage porcelain with gold or silver decor in there. New porcelain, which I decorate with decals, can be put in the dishwasher. However, I don't recommend everyday washing, as the motif may wear off over time, which would be a shame.

To complete the collection, textile must also be included. For the first time, I didn't paint the motifs by hand, but used so-called direct printing on textiles for this (similar to digital printing – I'm preparing a separate article about it). Terka was the first to sew multifunctional gift bags and pillows filled with dried lavender. I hope that more products will be added over time.

Unfortunately, the origami collection will not appear on glass for now. The ideal technique for it would be sandblasting, but I don't have that in my "repertoire" yet :).