Born from Fingers

Artist: Mui-Ling Teh
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Card: US$4.32
Print: from US$18.52

Born from Fingers

I made a new little friend for my crane in Born from the Hand. This was folded with a 6×6mm piece of paper, with tweezers and pins, resulting in a crane with wings 2.5mm long.

As I hold my creation, I feel like a God; I am the creator; I’ve created a life form so sharp and vulnerable in comparison to my hand. We can only understand size, fragility and significance when we compare two things. When we think, for example, how big the world is, we’re like tiny specks of sand, or even atoms, to the eyes of a God holding the earth in his palm.

It took 30 shots before getting one which was somewhat satisfying.

For a better idea of scale:

Also available at Zazzle

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Works by Category

Featured/Popular

Early Works [pre-university]
Origami
Drawings,Paintings and Graphics
Abstract Photography / Guessing Games

Flowers, Trees and Plants
Water and Waterscapes
Scenery/Skyscapes
Light, Shadow, and Reflections
Still Life

Living Creatures
Human Portrait

Japanfluence
Canada
Europe

More Sample Origami

‘Serenity’, the Firefly spacecraft (My own design)

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Mar Silva

Delicate. Great work. What patience!
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thanks Mar. It required much more patiance to take the photo than the crane; believe or not; the photography was so annoying it makes the crane folding look easy; particularly because I was both the hand model and photographer!
Paul Scarsella

OMG that is amazing!
salsbells69

Astounding talent and patience you have. Great skill to add. Love the perspective of this image showing the size. Well done~!
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you. It certainly would have been a lot easier to just show the two cranes alone, but I wanted to give a sense of scale to the work because that was what made it unique. It was difficult to keep both hands still (one holding the cranes, the other holding the camera).
Jan Piller

Wow!!! they both so teeny!!! Amazing job! and a great photo too!
Jan Piller

I just showed these to my husband who knows how to make these and he’s totally blown away too!
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you Jan Piller. I’m delighted that you have shared my work with others; many thanks!
edlogsdon

amazing work. nice presentation.
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you my friend:)
Gail Bridger

Patience is a virtue, and you got lots. Amazing Mui-Ling Teh. You never cease to amaze. Love your work.
Mui-Ling Teh replied

oh yeah, I needed a great deal of patience with this one; the little one especially was difficult to deal with; he got blown away by my breath a few times while I was trying to take the shot.
Lam Tran

Excellent my friend, Great patience and amazing skill, well done. Great capture too, you can make it into a wonderful series.
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Bright minds think alike my friend ;) I was planning on doing that! Stay tuned…
mieclarke

Amazing work Mui-Ling!! great patience….beautiful capture!
Karin Taylor

...your patience must be indestructible!!!
....i truly love this idea, so wonderful :)
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you Karin; it’s coming back to me. I’m thinking of doing more mini origami and other folding experiments in the future!
Cassie Gannon

Wow, that’s amazing!!! Excellent work
thickblackoutline

stunning work!
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you!
sekodesigns

WOW did you make them, That is so cool Mui-Ling.
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you. Yes I did make them.
NadiaTurner

Wow! That is amazing! Sooo beautiful!
Dawnsky2

wow thats dinky,, beautifully delicate :) lovely shot too
frozenfa

Whoah!! awesome origami!! and nice shot too.. well done! =D
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thanks!
Colin Tobin

WOW!
It takes incredible talent and patience to make such a small crane. Really nice shot as well.
cherylc1

incredible
Quigi

wow…I mean really…wow….simply outstanding!
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you Quigi. I wish I had a steadier hand though; if you look through the comments, you can see that taking the picture was harder than folding the cranes.
David Sandercoe

Wow, this is so amazing…..!! Mui-Ling you do great work.
Kurt Tutschek

now that’s really incredible – must have taken a lot of patience.
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you. It was actually setting up for the photographing and taking the photo that required more patience :P. Making the crane was actually easy compared to that. The more shots I attempted mean the more I had to touch my cranes; hence their edges were getting fuzzier; so I knew I could not try too many times. Sometimes I had them in perfect position, and then I’d blow it – literally (they would be blown away by my breath since they are so light)
Hidemi Tada

How did you learn how to make this paper bird? it is difficult to make such a small on even for us japanese. you are great and your photo is so beautiful.
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you for the lovely comment; you have some very lovely work too.

Watashi hanbun nihonjin desu. Chisana origami hajimeta toki watashi 5nensei datta desu. Sensei watashi no class ni Sadako no hanashi yonda kara, watashi origami motto mezashitakatta desu.
Hidemi Tada

wow, you are half japanese. I am happy to hear that. because we can share some feeling as mutual. kongo tomo yoroshiku onegai shimasu. kotirakara mo asobini kimasu.
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Kochirakoso yorokondeimasu. Canada he nihonjin mezurashii kara, hoko no nihonjin au to nanka ureshiku narimasu. Watashi no nihongo kanpeki jyanai desu kedo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.
Marny Barnes

How frustrating it must have been…I have little patience for macros…lol. They frustarte me…so all the more respect for your talent and capture.
Stuart Chapman

I’m trying to establish what is more impressive, the shot or the origami. Both are very impressive indeed. The clarity and softness of the shot works very well.
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you very much Stuart!
FAIRIEWOMAN1

Oh my goodness, these are the most precious, diminutive origami cranes Ive seen! The images are outstanding.
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thanks for the lovely comment :)
Steven Sandner

Lovely shot, great framing! absolutely love the details!!!
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you!
Leena Hedman

Amazing!!
Beth Lambert

fantastic! I love those things, my cousin makes them as well, and I have dozens, here and there around my house :)
Mui-Ling Teh replied

That’s wonderful. I have to keep mine safely stored in containers otherwise who knows what my dad will do to them :P. The tiny ones I made here right now are kept in a Kinder Surprise container. Thanks for stopping by :)
kimbaross

Intriguiging, lovely art.
Joanne Bradley

Wow! Now that is impressive! Such patience and talent!
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thanks! It’s a rediscovered passion of mine. I had a big origami craze in grade 5, and I had begun folding small then; though not as small as these. In stopped for a while, but now it’s back and I hope to create more origami in small sizes!
Nancy Polanski

I’m so glad to have found you. I love this talent of yours. A friend gave me an Origami reindeer made out of a dollar bill. I have it sitting on my desk. I know he will be excited to see what awesome work you do.
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you for your lovely comments Nancy; it’s so nice to meet you. You have very lovely photos of florals and nature in your portfolio. I look forward to seeing more of your work :)
Judi Taylor

Amazing .. I have seen this done but I have never done it. I love this shot.
Paul Gana

wow, very nice
jerry alcantara

wonderful work
Caren Schwartz

Whoa!!! I’ve never seen Origami this small before. Very cool and a great photo too.
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thanks. As you can see I also made a peacock in a gerbera. I also have another shot of the Gerbera which looked like there was ANOTHER little flower growing inside. I guess these flowers have an unusual growth; and now that I think about; seeing your siamese gerbera isn’t as surprising.
handprintz

So delicate and sweet,beautiful
LavenderMoon

Good heavens… I could never… unbelievable patience and skill combined..
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Kind of funny hearing “Good heavens” from someone with the moon in their profile name and picture. Thanks for the comment :)
LavenderMoon

~ smile ~ I never thought of it that way…. good point!

But your skills are commendable…. and when you’re finished you can tell what they are! Mine would look like a wadded-up gum-wrapper… : (
Mui-Ling Teh replied

But you’ve got some very nice shots of the moon; mine never turn out good; to me the moon is such a difficult subject to shoot.

Speaking of wrappers, I do origami out of those too! It all began in grade 5 when our teacher read us “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes”. I started doing a lot of origami from that time and even folded from candy wrappers because Sadako did the same. That was when I started to do mini origami, though it wasn’t til recently that I attempted to fold this tiny.
paul romanowski

AMAZING…...WELL DONE…..
LavenderMoon

Thank you for the marvelous comment about my shots of the moon. I’ve spent a lot of time on my roof, and lost a lot of sleep, but it’s been an adventure.

Keep doing what you do… it’s amazingly beautiful, Mui-Ling.
Austin Texas

great and cool
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you :D
Basia McAuley

That is so incredibly amazing and your photography is also brilliant, well done.
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you very much :)
solareclips~Ju...

Amazing work! You are very patient to do that kind of work!! ;-)
Rikki Pool

OMG so talented. This is amainzg!
Bevsimages

Sooooo tiny how clever are you…Great creativity & image also x ;)
Marc Evans IPA

Fabulous work, end result is terrific.
Paul Gibbons

Excellent work and the photograph is superb, very well done.
Marcia Luly

Amazing work!
aroha

wow that is incredible! you must have the patience of a saint!
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Not to that level :P Especially for something involving a deadline! Though this wasn’t the case here. Thanks for the lovely comment :)
jomei249

amazing!
coppertrees

Bravo,wonderful galley
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thank you :D
Antanas

great composition
Jen Cannella

These are such tiny little works of art…Amazing job and wonderful shot!
frozenfa

Great shot, Mui-Ling!! tho it’s a lil blur, the b/w shade is just perfect!! lovely.. and the contrast, the difference between the lil cranes and your palm.. it’s beautiful!! =D
Mui-Ling Teh replied

Thanks fa! This was sooooo hard to take! Although rather than explaining it over again, if you read through the comments; you’ll see why; lots to deal with.
georgiegirl

My son just loves doing origami… wait till he sees your incredible creations!!! He’ll be so gobsmacked!!!! Karin says you fold with needles and tweezers too. and the only thing I can think of is ‘Wow’ ;D
Mui-Ling Teh replied

That’s right! For my last one, it has come down to folding like this:
georgiegirl

omg!! Wait till Zac gets home from school and sees this!!!!! I’d better get out the needles too so he can try it. You are so talented Mui-Ling! They are so amazing ;D
Nic Relton

Incredible!
karenuk1969

So clever & so tiny!!
Garth Smith

Congratulations on your Top Ten finish the Black & White group Fingers & Toes Challenge