Montecito’s Alec Sherwin, an eighth-grader at Marymount of Santa Barbara, is making waves in the international world of origami.

As an origami artist, Alec Sherwin has left a paper trail of animals, but it’s a stylized goat that got him into this year’s Origami by Children collection. (Sherwin family photo)

Alec’s original origami design of a stylized “Goat” has been accepted in the OrigamiUSA 2012 Origami By Children collection. The collection of origami models by artists under 18 will make its debut at next month’s OrigamiUSA Convention at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, which Alec will attend. The exhibition will then go on a traveling nationwide display in libraries and at other organizations.

Although Alec has folded dozens of animals, birds, fish and insects, he had never folded a Goat before. Then one weekend, Takako Masame, a friend of Alec’s parents, Holly and Lanny Sherwin, and First Violin for the Cleveland Orchestra, was visiting. Masame had often returned from trips to Japan with some exotic origami paper for Alec. On this visit, she asked Alec if he would make her favorite animal — a goat. Alec didn’t have any books with goat diagrams, but he left the room for about 30 minutes and returned with a beautifully simple, stylized goat model. All from one piece of paper.

Another of Alec’s original designs, “Cactus Ball,” was chosen as part of the OrigamiUSA 2010 Origami By Children collection.

Each year, children are invited to submit their best folded models, either their own creations or the designs of others, to Origami By Children, which has been sponsored by OrigamiUSA for more than 20 years. The finest of these are selected to become the Origami By Children exhibit for that year.

Click here to view more of Alec’s origami.

— Lanny Sherwin is the proud parent of Alec Sherwin.