What is Patreon? It’s a website where I can offer the video classes and blog tutorials people have been asking me to create for, well, years! Just like back in the days of the Renaissance, the idea was to develop a way for “Patrons” to support artists not by donating money to them, but by paying them to create things that their patrons wanted. Fast forward to modern times. The platform is used by artists and creators (fine artists, writers, actors, musicians, etc). Basically, it’s like paying for an online class/education/entertainment but you receive it and so much more! Because instead of l ..read more

That’s me. The post title is how my friend Carl once described me. It just goes to show he knows me well. I may be a bit of an oddity for being adept at both, equally. While I would be perfectly content to hide myself away in the woods in my folding studio, I find that being an entrepreneur demands I leave Greenville (from time to time) and go be amongst people. Obviously the 19 days I spend each year at ArtPrize is a good example of the “highly social” part. It takes me a day or two to get used to both being around so many people again and talking constantly all day long. But now I’m also be ..read more

So much has changed in the past 9 months since I last posted. For one thing the studio is done. Almost. Just a few touches that will wait until spring when I can do some staining outside, or at the very least with the windows open. For now I’ve been working away creating Tinygamis each day, hosting the folding club each month, and trying to figure out how to transition from creating a business to running one that has now made the leap from a “someday” goal to happening now! Earlier this month a video was released online that appears to have been the tipping point that I have been working towa ..read more

I lost a friend. She was crazy-smart, very kind, thoughtful, and generous. She was a caring person who I had the good fortune to meet while I was living in CA (before moving to MI). Even after I’d moved we would often post on each other’s walls and  message privately on Facebook. We were going to go camping together, someday. She loved my tiny trailer and envisioned living a simple, downsized, even possibly off-the-grid kind of life someday. I came very close to being able to visit her one last time but was just a bit too late… I was 11 days away from driving through the city she lived i ..read more

Last Saturday I spent the day on Division Ave. S in downtown Grand Rapids for the annual Art.Downtown event. It’s kind of like a mini ArtPrize except there is no voting/contest aspect and it only lasts for a single day from noon to 9:00 PM. There were four artist’s sharing their work at the venue where I was invited to participate. Our curator, Zahara Avalon, also set up an interactive aspect asking people to write down on a restaurant order pad “What does it mean to be American?” The guests were then invited to hang their responses on string strung throughout the venue. The responses ranged f ..read more

Coming to Grand Rapids, MI this Saturday? If you are maybe I’ll see you. I’m participating in the Art.Downtown one day event hosted by Avenue for the Arts and will be at my venue (122 Division St S) from noon until 5:00 PM though the exhibit runs until 9:00 PM “AMERICAN” The exhibit asks: “What does it mean to be American? The space focuses on intersections of Asian and Hispanic/Latinx identities especially in a political climate of anti-culture/color/immigrant.” My contribution to the installation will be three framed pieces depicting my maternal family’s experience during the Japanese Ameri ..read more

One of the most disheartening things people who didn’t mean to offend me have said (directly) to me has been post 9/11 when they express their belief that people of Middle Eastern descent, or those who are Muslim, should be “rounded up” and moved out to a deserted area or shipped back to where they came from. My reply to them is always the same: “It is that mentality that led to my family being imprisoned for almost 4 years during WWII. They had done nothing wrong yet they were uprooted from the West Coast and moved to Heart Mountain, WY where they lived behind barbed wire in an uninsula ..read more

Imagine my surprise when I was contacted to see if I’d want to participate as an origami artist at the inaugural “Grand Rapid’s Asian Festival” on June 10th, 2017. My first thought was: Wow, cool! My second thought: There are enough of us to hold a festival? LOL The Experience Grand Rapids website lists Asians as 2% of the demographic in Grand Rapids with the most predominate ethnic groups being: “…Vietnam, Korea, China and India.” Japanese are only listed near the bottom of the page as cuisine at local restaurants. One of the most different things about moving from the West Coast to the Midw ..read more

Well, I’ve done it. I’ve taken another step launching Tinygami as my full time career. I signed up to participate at the: Made In Michigan Pop-Up Market Saturday May 27th and July 22nd, 2017 Each day from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM 435 Ionia Ave. SW Grand Rapids, MI 49503 So, if seeing Tinygamis in person is something you’ve been wanting to do just save either of the two dates and come see them in downtown Grand Rapids. Between now and then I’ll be making lots of items (that you can currently see/purchase in the Tinygami Etsy Shop) to bring with me. My prices for strands of cranes and frogs, jewelry ..read more

So, here’s what’s been happening over on my Instagram feed. Studio build updates (the ceiling is almost up) and new mini glass cloches that can be used as small decorative items or as pendants for necklaces that I’ll soon be adding to my Etsy shop. One photo in particular yesterday received more attention than my usual posts… It’s the tiniest renzuru I’ve ever made, or seen for that matter. It’s two 3/8″ high and wide cranes folded from one piece of paper. They’re connected at their beaks. The paper was a 1.5″ x 3/4″ high rectangle. I didn’t know if it was possible to fold them that small wi ..read more