I am always looking for new materials to incorporate into my art. I was delighted to find I could use Tyvek for origami and incorporate it into outdoor art. My weather-resistant origami crane chains are a big hit at art shows, especially in the spring when people are beginning to spruce up their outdoor living areas.
Tyvek was designed as a moisture barrier for use in building construction. It is so durable and non-permeable that it is used in a range of products from FedEx envelopes to hazmat suits! I have Tyvek origami crane chains that have hung outdoors for more than a decade and the cranes remain beautiful even in New Mexico’s intense sun and extreme weather.
I usually have used telephone wire, beads and keys to embellish my crane chains. Then a couple of years ago I took a ceramics class just for fun and realized I could make ceramic medallions to string with my cranes along with the other embellishments.
Doing ceramics is so much fun and has become something of a hobby for me. It was doing ceramics that led me to creating the Soup is Love project I’ve written about before. Over the last month, we’ve made nearly 100 bowls and this coming weekend, April 8 & 9, we will begin glazing the bowls.
I am still first and foremost a paper artist, but it has been fun to learn a new art form and find a way to use it for good. For more information about the Soup is Love project, go to Soup is Love Project on this blog.
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In 2015, the City of Albuquerque purchased a “curtain” of my Tyvek origami crane chains to keep birds from flying into a big window at the City’s Open Space Visitors Center.
–Vicki Bolen
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Check out my art at the Little Bird de Papel stores.
–Little Bird de Papel on Etsy: littlebirddepapel.etsy.com
–Little Bird de Papel on Redbubble: littlebirdpapel.redbubble.com
