About Me

I am a high school math teacher who enjoys doing origami.  I have taught high school for 22 years and have been pursuing origami as a hobby for the same amount of time.  I learned how to fold the Traditional Crane when I was a kid but quickly lost interest. Much later, when I graduated from college and got a teaching job, I took up skydiving. This was a hobby that I enjoyed very much, but I was looking for another one that was not as expensive - my childhood memories of folding cranes led me to wonder what was out there on the internet and, as I browsed for things to fold, it was Kawasaki's New Rose that captured my attention and hooked me on origami, particularly what can be done by folding a single square piece of paper without any cuts. It took me awhile to gain enough experience to where I was good enough to fold that model and, once I was successful, it was Robert Lang's Praying Mantis (the one from Origami Insects and Their Kin, not the one from Origami Insect II that I have posted in my "Other Artists' Designs" page) that caught my interest next.  Indeed, Robert's work has inspired me more than anyone's, and I have folded more of his designs than any origami artist other than myself. As I gained more and more experience, I was able to fold more and more complicated models and now, since 2006, I have been designing my own original origami models thanks to Robert Lang's book Origami Design Secrets.  The only hobby that I have kept longer is reading - The Lord of the Rings became my favorite book when I read it as a freshman in high school, and my interest in Fantasy has endured to this day with Brandon Sanderson and Tad Williams becoming my favorite authors. Here are some other things I have done and experienced over the years: