About
My name is Ekaterina Lukasheva (aka Kate) and I am origami-addicted.
FAQ
- Are you selling your origami? – Yes, I do. It is unique handmade tessellation that is invented and designed by me. Tessellations are hand folded, hand dyed and always unique and takes up to few days to complete (it’s $$$). They look amazing in real life, since it’s 3-dimensional and changing with light. Write me to art at kusudama.me to get the details.
- Can you teach me this modular origami please? – If I publish some tutorials or diagrams I usually do it once and for everybody. I have published 4 books and there are plenty of good models there. You can have a look at my origami books here three of them are available in e-book format for a very reasonable price. Not to mention some free origami diagrams on my website.
It’s unlikely that I decide to teach someone I don’t know over internet. Although if we ever meet in person at some origami convention, I am likely to do so. - Can you teach me to fold spiral tessellations? – No. It’s really hard folks, it requires special equipment, a lots of time, lots of prior skills and is generally more complicated than folding flat fold origami. I do teach small spiral roses during origami conventions.
- How do you make those perfect curves? – There are plenty of methods and tricks involved: First I design. It can take months to come to some great idea. Then I choose the origami paper. Then I can sometimes paint the paper. Then I pre-score the paper. That can be manual or automated. I prefer the latter way, since it takes less time. Then I fold it. Or better to say collapse it. I can’t really share this technique, since it’s about training your hands, not about any secret weapons. Then I sometimes paint it with spray paints.
- Can you make a video of the process? – I’ve already done one video of making spiral curved fold origami.
Interviews with me
Some funny facts about me
- I was born in 1986 in Moscow, Russia
- I always liked solving conundrums and playing with construction sets (the very bad thing about them is that you never have enough parts!)
- My parents forbade me to play with puzzle and Tetris (they think it’s too silly). I first played these games when I was around 20 years old…
- When I was a child, I liked to read the book “entertaining math”, architecture catalogs and art encyclopedias
- I always dreamed to become an architect, but I became a mathematician. Is it the fate?
- I graduated in 2008 with honors from Moscow state Lomonosov University as a mathematician/software engineer.
- I had to marry the man, who designed the “kusudama.me” internet site for me 😉
- So I’m married
- I used to grow cactuses and dreamt to move to some sunny warm region, so that my cactuses feel themselves better. I moved to California several years ago, but had to leave cactuses in Russia, since US customs won’t be happy if I import living plants…
- So I live in US since 2015
- I do not drink (once a month does not count), smoke and I never tried recreational drugs (except Coffee, Sugar, Chocolate and Coca-Cola)
- I’ve published 4 origami books
- I have a cat Eva