I don't remember who said that the quilt series on numbers was a kind of mediation, but I suddenly saw the collection in a new way.
First of all the setting was in the Green Ash grove in Wainborn Park. Someone brought an iPhone & a tree identifier site helped. The tree-name resonated with me. As a child my first song that I could harmonize to (aside from rounds) was The Ash Grove. It was on page 39 of the Home & Community Songbook that I grew up with.
Then, though some of the quilts have some lessons in them, some just are & are very simple.
The 18 Quilts and details I'm posting here. This is work done intermittently over an 8 year period. This is a very dense blog entry. I hope it's not too much. First the setting....
The Green Ash Grove after the show... or before!
Then the quilts.
I'm doing them "in order".
Each number gets a special treatment.
A Lot of Nothing
We Are One
Double Double
Three Points of Interest
The list ends, "....but this quilt is not about any of that, it is about 3 points of interest." And yes, I typed the lettering onto the cloth using an old typewriter!
...with the light coming through it in the park....X-ray-like....
My Four Lenses for Looking at Numbers:
math, science, language, & culture
5: Tying an Overhand Knot, Golden Rectangles, & More
Hexominoes
July 7 Birthdays
Symmetric Numbers
Below:1, 2, 3 & 4-digit symmetric numbers
The Magic of Nine
Fingers & Toes
Eleven-Point Stars
12-Hour Clock
....for some reason this one was never properly photographed....
...the righthand one is before it was quilted up....
This square-with-a-circle cut into it was a module that was used in the Temperance Quilts. The colors of the anti-alcohol campaign were blue & white & many of the quilt patterns were called Drunkard's Walk (or Path). My modules are different sizes.
Deck of Cards (4 x 13)
What Grew From Mathematics
This quilt was made from page 42 of Birkhoff & MacLean. This book I studied for several math courses I took. I had MacLean as a teacher at the University of Chicago. I loved him, great teacher!
Page 42 is about the development of the rational numbers. The title, What Grew from Mathematics, refers to my transformation from mathematician to artist. This Oh, Solo, Double, Trio project is about my transformation from artist back to mathematician!
The Look of Numbers
...this is actually another lens I use for looking at numbers, the graphic lens..... I swoon for these shapes...
The Colophon
I wish I had a good photo of the dedication on the back. It is "for all my children: biological, pedagogical & magical".
