A Butterfly for Vanessa Gould

“The Vanessa”

This design is named for Vanessa Gould, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker and author of Between the Folds, an engaging documentary presenting the state of the art of origami, its artists, mathematicians, and engineers, collectively moving the body of folding knowledge forward.

“The Vanessa” is our beloved storyteller. She flies around the world probing thoughts, gathering insight. Friends we thought we knew, we realized we barely knew. She constructs her story logically, and wraps ideas in a cocoon until we have thought about them long enough. Her story emerges bearing wings, and viewers don’t just understand origami, they fall in love with it. “The Vanessa” slips into screening rooms, movie theaters, TV sets, and computer screens everywhere, telling truth and beauty, magic and wonder. Through her perseverance, remarkable courage, and selfless sacrifice, she makes it cool for kids to question, think, work hard, and explore.

seven minutes planned...
behold this visible math!
oh, my God! A Peabody!

1. Begin with the butterfly base from step 15 of “A Butterfly for Mr. Makoto Yamaguchi” (page 48).

2. Valley-fold the square corner of each forewing so that the top edge runs parallel to the crease.

3. Mountain- and valley-fold the triangle flap of each forewing into thirds. Inside-reverse fold the lower corner of each forewing.

4. Your paper should look like this.

5. For each hindwing, mountain-fold the outside edge behind. Valley-fold the tip of the triangle flap to touch the crease.

6. For each hindwing, valley-fold the tip of the triangle flap to touch the folded edge.

7. Mountain- and valley-fold the abdomen over the right wing.

8. Valley-fold the left wing to match the right wing. Unfold.

9. (A) Squash-fold the paper for the head. (B) Mountain-fold the corner behind. (C) Your paper should look like this. (D) Fold the wings together.

10. (A) Mountain-fold the abdomen edges inside. (B) Valley-fold the wings down on each side.

A Butterfly for Vanessa Gould.