When Ed Toler of Kansas City told me that an origami master is someone who has invented their own piece, 
 I took it as gospel, and have told all my students the same ever since.

As a folder of paper, becoming a master of your craft means that you have to start yourself folding, at least a few times, with nothing in mind. A true master pushes the edges of their talent to the edges of their knowledge. Sometimes, you just have to fiddle with the paper until it becomes something. As a true master, you must, also, keep up with the art form though your peers' progress, too.

With all of our fingers working together, we eventually become masters of our own originals, along with, also, making our own pieces a part of history.