Frog

Designed by Michael G. LaFosse

During my high school years, I spent summers with my good friends, the Rossi family, at their camp on Vinton Pond in northern Massachusetts. My friend, Paul Rossi and I soaked in the wonders of this idyllic setting, and we became students of the creatures in our own backyard. Vinton Pond was home to two of my favorite origami subjects, the turtle and the frog. These little frogs hid in the mud along the shores of the pond. The mud sparkled with mica, so when I created the handmade paper for this project, I added mica to the paper. The resulting, origami frogs closely resemble the real frogs as I saw them.

This design requires subtle sculpting along the back and eyes to make it appear particularly athletic -- lean and alert - ready to launch out of your slippery grasp with a single burst of power from hyper-strong hind legs. This model best represents why I coined the term "Origamido" many years ago. This model was one of the first designs that demanded a special type of paper - not just color and sparkle, but folding characteristics that allowed and preserved sculptural refinement. This refinement, made possible through producing a special design and a special paper, embodies the Japanese suffix "do", meaning "the pursuit", "the way" or "the life". This was also around the time I had been studying Tae Kwon Do, so I was mindful of directed, long-term dedication as a way to realize or achieve a specific goal.