Patterns in Nature

I’ve recently gotten back to the excellent book The Self-Made Tapestry by Philip Ball. I began this book at least 10 years ago. It’s a dense read- I need to have head-space available when I approach it (often difficult to come by as parent of a 4 year old!) and I generally need to set it aside for periods of time for integration. This book and other work by Philip about shape, form, and pattern have been highly influential in the evolution of my art.

Books I'm reading

I tend to read books in small pieces. At any one time one of these books is either at  my bedside or in my backpack.

-> A Brief History of Everything -Ken Wilbur
A book that has deepened my perspective of evolution. This book is about the evolution of consciousness, but it can be applied to any process- we are where we are as a response to where we have been. We wouldn't be where we are without having gone through the process of getting there. Its a comforting realization and allows me to forgive myself for mistakes as long as I learn from them. In spinning a staff I have always understood that nothing exists in isolation- every part of every movement is a result of what has come before.

->The Self-Aware Universe: How Consciousness Creates the Material World -Amit Goswami
Just starting this one....

->Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass mind from ther Big Bang to the 21st Century -Howard Bloom
Fascinating look at self-organization and self-maintenance

->Islamic Patterns: An Analytic and Cosmological Approach -Keith Critchlow
An in-depth look at Islamic tiling systems and the underlying structure they are based on

->A Beginners Guide to Constructing the Universe: the Mathematical Archtypes of Nature, Art, and Science -Micheal Schneider
A fantastic entry into geometry. Gets a little flowery but lots of examples and images.

->Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice -Robert Lawlor
A fascinating and well written look at the foundations of the field of sacred geometry. Very grounded and studious.

-> Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction -George Bain
A masterpiece of Celtic design study.

->The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature -Philip Ball
Amazing look at the foundation of natural formations from a physics perspective. Technical but very readable

Flow Toys

Flow Toys Flow toys are a general name for toys that get your body in motion, which help one access deeper levels of physical awareness. These include staves, which have been perhaps my single biggest influence, predating every other artistic interest and leading to many subsequent and ongoing discoveries. Flow Toys is also a brand of movement tool. Check out these high quality 'toys'.

 

Tensegritoy

Tensegritoy
The concept of 'tensegrity', of the push and pull inherent in all systems, is wonderfully represented in this construction toy. Go here to learn more about this fun tool.

Kenneth Snelson is a master of this artform. Check out what he has done, an example of which is shown here.

Geomags

Geomags
This toy basically consists of little sticks with magnets at the ends and little metal balls. With this toy all sorts of geometric principles can be constructed and analysed.

Geomags tend to be pricey due to their superior magnetic qualities. But there are lots of cheap knockoffs. Be warned that larger structures won't stay together as well with these though.

Check 'em out here.

Zome Tool

Zome Tool
This fabulous toy is a bit complex at first but after a while the possibilities limitless. Mostly it excels at highlighting geometrical constructions. This one has been a very useful tool for me.

Check it out here.

Great Stella

Great Stella
An awesome program for creating 3 dimensional geometric models. The exploration is pretty deep with this tool. I'll post some of the images I've made, some of which have become sculptures. The program allows you to generate stellations of all shapes and then it gives you the guides to create full scale models.

Check out the program here.

Fractal Extreme

Fractal Extreme
I love this program for generating and exploring fractals. The free version is totally adequate for getting pretty deep- to the place where most computers start slowing down, which is deep enough for casual exploration. You can generate movies of the journeys, which is super cool.

Find it here.