5/9/2006 Houston-- Mark your calendars origami fans. The Houston Origami Festival will run from July 1st - 9th with a cocktail reception on Saturday, July 1st from 6-8pm. Tansu in the Houston Heights is proud to present its second annual festival celebrating origami, the ancient art of Japanese paper folding. San Francisco s master origami artist Linda Mihara will be featured this year teaching a multitude of workshops, displaying her artwork, and premiering her latest creation, the 3D Connected Crane Pyramid! Workshops and unique origami models will also be offered by Houston s finest origami artists including Joan Son, Kyle Fu, Nancy Munson, Ping Lau, and Sandy Atha.

Origami enables virtually anyone to create amazing sculpture from the simplest of materials, paper. Not only is it a very inexpensive way to create art, but it can be done practically anywhere, says Tansu proprietor Van Pavlik. The Origami Festival is about sharing the magical world of origami with Houston by offering beautiful exhibits as well as hands-on workshops taught by the artists. There will be something for everyone at this festival, from the origami initiate to the origami guru. Last year s festival had well over five hundred attendees.

Headlining Tansu's 2006 Houston Origami Festival will be Master origami artist Linda Mihara. Linda's most recent project involved creating origami for a new Mitsubishi Endeavor commercial in which the Endeavor travels through an animated origami landscape. Prior to this, Linda was invited to exhibit at the 2005 Masters of Origami exhibit in Austria due to her innovative work. Linda specializes in the art of Connected Cranes where a single sheet of paper is carefully cut then folded, forming multiple cranes that are still attached to one another. She holds the honor of creating the world's first 3D connected-crane model named the Peace Sphere , which took her five years to develop. Linda premiered her next creation, the 3D Crane Cube in Austria to critical acclaim. Linda's newest creation, the 3D Crane Pyramid , will be premiered this July at Tansu's Origami Festival in Houston! (To view high resolution images of origami models by Linda Mihara visit: www.tansustyle.com/origamifestival/presspage).

The festival's workshops will range from beginning models for the origami novice, to advanced models that will enhance the skills of even experienced folders . Also included will be several origami installations. The first is of hundreds of origami butterflies that magically fly from the ground floor up the stairs. The second is a large origami American flag, and the third will be a Cherry Blossom tree that combines the art of origami with ancient Chinese painting techniques. For an article on the history of origami written by Joseph Wu, widely recognized as one of America s leading experts on the art form, go to http://www.origami.as/Info/history.php.

Meet the artists

Linda Mihara - has been folding since the age of five, and learned from her Grandfather, Tokinobu Mihara, author of Origami Japanese Art of Paper Folding, one of the first origami classics written in English. For over 20 years, Linda has pioneered the Art of One Thousand Cranes, known as Sembazuru in Japanese. She has been called an origami magician, as she creates framed artwork for wedding couples using one thousand cranes as her palette. Linda was recently invited to participate in the 2005 Masters of Origami exhibit in Salzburg, Austria due to her innovative work in origami Connected Cranes . She holds the honor of creating the world s only 3D connected-crane models including both a sphere and a cube, each folded from a single sheet of paper. Her latest creation, the Crane Pyramid , will be premiered at Tansu's 2006 Origami Festival in Houston. Linda s most recent project was creating origami for the Mitsubishi Endeavor commercial in which the Endeavor travels through an animated origami landscape.

About Tansu
Tansu is an asian-inspired lifestyle store that offers sophistication for the simple lifestyle through a wide variety of products including furniture, gifts, personal accessories, and paper arts. Tansu promotes an aesthetic that is simple, clean, and timeless; inspiring people to create an environment for their lives that is refined yet calm and inviting. Tansu was voted Best New Store in 2004 by the Houston Press. Contact Van Pavlik 713-880-5100 for more information.