by Carol Masters, Becketwood Member
Did you know Becketwood’s Origami Tree turned 21 this year? Each year’s intricate ornamentation seems lovelier than the last. In the early years of its formation, Origami Minnesota members spent regular hours in the craft room folding the constructions.
A notebook on a table nearby contained a picture of the first tree in 1994, along with more photos, newspaper articles, and Origami Minnesota newsletter items about the tree. The newsletter is no longer in publication, but a local group still meets (link above). Becketwood’s notebook is worth some time browsing (next year?), or you can just enjoy the petite paper sculptures in their various shapes and bright colors.
In December 1995, The Highland Villager described the tree as “decorated entirely with artfully folded paper angels, stars, Santa, chains of paper cubes, and … kusadama balls.”
Kusadama balls are made up of forty tiny pieces of paper folded into pleated cones, joined together. In earlier times, the balls were filled with aromatic herbs and hung over sickbeds to drive away noxious spirits.
The name origami is taken from Japanese ori meaning "folding" and kami meaning "paper," and refers to the art of paper folding often associated with Japanese culture and practiced since the Edo period (1603–1867). Traditionally a flat square sheet of paper is transformed into a finished sculpture through folding techniques, but modern practitioners are less strict about these conventions, sometimes cutting the paper or using nonsquare shapes to start with (Wikipedia). Some famous paper folders in history were Leonardo da Vinci, Houdini, the English poet Shelley, and Lewis Carroll (did he fold a Jabberwocky?).
A mythical creature that is part of the Becketwood tree’s history is a winged unicorn made by an Origami Minnesota member and father whose little daughter died (her composition about the unicorn is included in the notebook). He has memorialized his child through the little sculptures in many places around the world. In Becketwood, the miniature unicorn hangs inside a globe.
Many stories surround the collection of ornaments, garlands, and shining “presents” on and beneath the tree. Becketwood member Mary Walsh was instrumental in working with Origami Minnesota and still is central in organizing and maintaining this exquisite gift to Becketwood.
