Michael G. LaFosse decided he would be an origami artist in 1971, after reading (and rereading) a Readers' Digest article by Leland Stowe, about the amazing folded art of Japanese Master Akira Yoshizawa. An avid teacher, LaFosse co-founded the Origamido Studio, a learning centre and design studio dedicated to the art of origami, and the only place in the world specializing in hand papermaking for the origami artist. A biologist by training, LaFosse is one of the most celebrated natural history origami artists. He has spent decades studying plants and animals and re-creating them in detailed folded paper projects. He has also created hundreds of designs now seen in exceptional exhibitions, and published in dozens of books, kits, and videos. Richard L. Alexander met LaFosse in 1988, and together they have produced exhibitions and publications about paper art and origami. Alexander has worked with LaFosse full time since 2003, and since then has made all of the Origamido handmade paper. Alexander also teaches and designs origami, while being responsible for photography, videography, commercial projects, and managing the Origamido Studio gallery spaces and exhibitions.
"""Through the intricate art of origami, LaFosse and Alexander succeed in educating all ages about wildlife conservation and the importance of preserving our Earth's endangered animals."" --Jack Hanna, Host of Into the Wild and Wild Countdown, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium ""LaFosse and Alexander's origami offers a wonderfully creative and memorable encounter with some of the world's most vulnerable animals! What better way to inspire us to help protect what is irreplaceable in nature?"" --Jane Winchell, The Sarah Fraser Robbins Director of The Dotty Brown Art & Nature Center at the Peabody Essex Museum ""This kit provides hands-on and minds-on experiences with a dozen threatened animals from land and sea. It includes ecological notes about each animal and how to become involved with protecting them. Another sure hit from the masterful team of LaFosse and Alexander!"" --George D. Buckley, Co-founder of the Sustainability and Environmental Management Program, Harvard University Extension School"