Origami: the Sacred Lotus

Yes, I do adore Lotus flowers!(bot.Nelumbium speciosum) They seem to glow from within, flowers so beautiful they seem from beyond this world. It is hard for any artist to capture something that beautiful, something that perfect. I'd like to show you a version that comes close to the original and isn't that hard to make: the origami lotus.

 

Instead of using origami paper I prepared sheets of newspaper that I tinted with wood stain pigments beforehand. These pigments give off warm colors that look very natural. The folding of the petals is actually easy, it can be done by 6 year olds. Here is a YouTube video that's easy to follow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phYNG2YikxA

The trick is the larger the paper petals the easier the folding. For our lotus we folded 12 petals (purple) and 4 outer leaves (green) but you can also go with 8 and 4. Tying the bundle of petals together and then inverting them is a bit more challenging and needs the help of an adult. 

Our hands being coloured purple after folding so many Lotus petals!

This photo I took in a temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia this spring. Even withered the beauty of the Lotus still radiates.

Botanical drawings: Wild Chinese Pineapple

This plant with its spiky leaves and round fruits grows on beaches in Hong Kong. Its name is Wild Chinese Pineapple or Screw pine (lat. Pandanus) and it has an important role in keeping the sand and soil from being washed into the ocean. Parts of the fruit can be found in the sand and they look very pretty,almost like little brushes. See, a couple of them even germinated in my garden! So with this background knowledge and a big green Wild Pineapple in front of them, the children start to draw. It is a difficult task as the surface is made up of an intricate and repeating pattern. How patient they copy each seed and how beautiful those drawings turn out! I am once again very proud of my little artists:-)