I am really excited about participating in Art in Action 2013  with my partner Eric Gjerde. We’ve been working really hard recently to promote paper-folding and our new book through workshops at local art spaces and school fairs…

From the 18th – 21st July we’ll be doing just that at Art in Action, a huge event near Oxford where artists demonstrate their skills, share their knowledge, perform and give practical classes.

Artists come from around the world and share with the public their enthusiasm for what they do resulting in a wonderful, energy filled experience.

It looks like the sun will be shining brightly for us, so come along and have some fun!

Earlier this year, I was involved in creating some large scale paintings with Lucy Mckenzie for her first solo show in Amsterdam.

The huge canvas sheets of painted marble turned out looking like realistic blocks and the rich, decorative paintings vibrate against the solid white walls.

The show Something they have to live with will be at the Stedelijk Meseum until 22nd September 2013.

Lucy Mckenzie at Stedelijk Museum 2013

Lucy Mckenzie at Stedelijk Museum 2013

Lucy Mckenzie at Stedelijk Museum 2013

Lucy Mckenzie at Stedelijk Museum 2013

Lucy Mckenzie at Stedelijk Museum 2013

Lucy Mckenzie at Stedelijk Museum 2013

Lucy Mckenzie at Stedelijk Museum 2013

For once I have kept to my New Year’s Resolutions. My book Origami for All is at the printer’s at this moment. How exciting!

I love the way the internet facilitates communication and enables us to meet like-minded, interesting people. I’m almost always up for a challenge and thoroughly enjoy collaborations with other artists – adapting my skills and techniques is great mental stimulation!

Earlier this year I was contacted by Ornella Gallo di Fortuna, an Italian fashion designer based in London. She needed a touch of origami inspiration for her 2013 millinery collection origami romance, and I was available to help. I folded the different pieces out of my hand-made paper first and then out of a variety of different fabrics that had been prepared with a stiffening agent. To keep the creases nice and crisp I found that the best solution was to iron each and every fold.

This was a fun project and I am very honoured to have contributed to some of these beautiful compositions. Here are a few of my favourite images, but many more are visible on the links above.

I’m pleased to announce that I have been invited to participate in the 2013 Salon de l’Artisanat in Yerres from 5th-7th April. This is a prestigious arts and crafts fair that is held in the Caillebotte Property on the outskirts of Paris. Alongside 25 other artists I will be exhibiting some of my large paper artworks as well as demonstrating my paper folding skills.

I look forward to seeing you there!

When I look at art in museums and galleries I almost always wonder how it was made, how long it took, what the artist’s studio smelled like… seeing the finished result is only one piece of the process. I feel very lucky to be a part of this process when assisting Lucy McKenzie in her large-scale artwork. In February 2013 I spent some time in Lucy’s art studio in Brussels painting Alhambra inspired stencils on to giant canvases for her upcoming show in Amsterdam. It was hard enough not to make any mistakes (some patterns have complicated colour combinations), but laying each individual tile must have been a completely different experience for the original artisans. I can only imagine what the talented craftsmen were thinking while creating these amazing tessellations.

These oil paintings are only one element of Lucy’s solo show at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. I look forward to seeing them in-situ alongside the massive faux-marble blocks we painted too.

Here are some photos of the painting process so that you too can have a glimpse behind the scenes.

big blank canvas

preparation

preparation detail

first stencil

stencilling

teamwork

Alhambra stencil complete

Alhambra stencil detail

stencilling

stencil detail

stencil detail

Seeing as Valentine’s day is just around the corner, I can’t think of a better time to share my simple heart origami model with you. It should be rather easy to fold even if you have no paperfolding experience. Just take your time and follow the diagrams carefully.

The simple heart is one of the models that will be included in my upcoming origami book, which should be available for purchase in the next few months. Please feel free to send me your comments. You can find out more information about the book on its website: www.origamiforall.com.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Download: Ioana Stoian – Heart PDF

P.S. – You’ll need to use a square piece of paper for this design; either normal origami paper, or trim down a sheet to make a perfect square.

To everyone who supports me and my work,

I wish you all a wonderful new year!

There are a number of interesting projects planned for 2013, but the one I’m most looking forward to is self-publishing my paperfolding designs. I’ve been working on my book for quite some time now and this year should see it’s launch – I am very excited indeed!

As usual the end of the year has approached at grande vitesse, time really does seem to fly!

One of the highlights of 2012 was participating in the Salon Résonances in Strasbourg. My partner, Eric Gjerde, and I were guests of honour at this wonderful art/artisan event which attracted over 16000 people in four days. Our collaborative piece received great attention with children and adults looking in disbelief at the 25m long installation exhibited in the center of the main hall.

This paper installation was based on one of Eric’s elaborate origami tessellations, however this is the first time we’ve taken one of his designs to such huge dimensions. Together, we folded this organic creation: 42 meters of paper containing over 19000 folds and 3km of creases! I think this may even be the largest piece of origami ever folded.

As you can imagine, many hours, days, and months of intense concentration were necessary in producing this creation. We both enjoyed working on such a huge scale and welcome large installation opportunities in the UK and abroad.

The lovely black and whte photos were taken by our friend Peak who came by to offer her support. She is a Strasbourg-based photographer from Los Angeles.