For the Love of Math    (by M of the frenzygals)

I have lately been rather down on math in general as a result of having to do so much accounting and tax paperwork. (Much to the chagrin of several of my Engineer friends.) However, a recent trip to the Akron Art Museum with a friend has caused me to have a change of heart and I can now see the beauty and perfection that math can create.

Escher's Verbum

While I was peripherally familiar with some of M.C. Escher’s work, it wasn’t until I walked into the exhibit hall that I was really confronted with the variety of his skills and the complexities of his dedication to his art. It was my first real experience with tessellations and fractals (and the proper terminology for them) and I must confess I was a bit overwhelmed and awed by his mastery of other complex mathematical concepts as well. I had heard of Mobius strips and forced perspectives, and have had the crystalline structures of nature explained to me by K in her excited geologist’s tone, but I had not been prepared for the seemingly simplistic yet obviously laborious portrayal of their existence evidenced in Escher’s lifelong pursuit of understanding. Also the breadth of his mediums of choice was impressive. Until that day I had absolutely no idea the amount of steps and work involved in creating a lithograph. (Not to mention I didn’t really know what a lithograph really was.)

It was a surprisingly intimate experience to be able to see the evolution of the artist and his skills through the

Escher's Horsemen

display of art he created throughout his life. You could really see the increase in his mastery of the different forms and structures he chose as his subjects as he grew older. His unwavering determination to show the world to us from a new perspective through the marriage of math and art was inspiring. The exhibit was well done with plaques that provided Escher’s own words about his work and the concepts he struggled with. His enthusiasm for what some consider to be “lesser” art forms – illustration and animation – struck a chord with me as I often feel people get told what is art and what is not instead of deciding it for themselves.

Escher's Other World

My favorite part of the exhibit was the feeling with which I left the gallery. I left with a sense that everything comes from and feeds into everything else ad infinitum. Describing and experiencing the universe through math can be rewarding, creative, and surprising. I love having my eyes opened to new possibilities. It is always refreshing in an exceedingly jaded world to discover new things that re-excite you to the mundane wonders surrounding us every day.

I will leave you with a lovely quote I had to write down from one of the plaques:

Escher's Magic Mirror

“If we are going to construct a universe then let it not be some vague abstraction but rather a concrete image of recognizable objects.”

For some great information on the Math of Escher visit this website: http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/tessell.htm

Circus-a-Day Project Recap of Week 17

Days 113-114 (K) Fortune Teller Necklaces Continued… & (M) 3D Quilling and Dye Experiments

K here. I’ve been working for four days on this series of necklaces. I started months ago by making the soldered charms, and I finished the fourth one tonight. Those of you who make jewelry will understand how obsessed I was with making sure they all hung properly and carried the theme. Each one contains one fortune and a color theme, from pink for love to green for money. I definitely think these will impart good fortune to their eventual wearers!

Also, I’ve learned that I am very stingy. It was hard for me to part with so many different supplies, especially the unique pieces, such as the old cash-register key in the green necklace, the lucky penny in the purple necklace, and the voodoo dolly in the pink one. But I am learning and getting better at letting go of my hoard!

M has been looking for creative ways to expand her quilling skills and hit upon some examples of 3D quilling. I decided to try my hand at it by making a flowerpot and free standing flower. It took quite some time to quill the flower pot and lots of glue to coat it to keep its shape. I used a toothpick covered with green paper as the stem and glued the flower to the top. The flowerpot turned out a bit lopsided so it didn’t want to stay on its own very well. Better luck next time.

M also spent some time tea staining petticoats and hand dyeing some other items we have in our stock that weren’t moving in their original plain white state. They turned out not quite as expected from the dye colors, but I learned a lot about dying things and that you should always use at least double the dye, leave the item in the dye at least twice as long as suggested, and you must use the salt recommended and apparently vinegar as well. Still learning how to do this, so hopefully we will have some better color in the future.

Day 115 & 116 (M) BedTime JimJams & Badge Ribbons

M has been working on these jimjams for over a year and finally got the buttonholes sewn for the drawstrings thanks to her new sewing machine and was able to finish the waistbands thanks to her lovely serger. Then using a bodkin (seriously one of the best and simplest inventions ever) she threaded the velvet ribbon drawstrings. Using the ribbon printer we bought last year I was able to make custom tags for the jimjams with all the legally required info such as fiber content and washing instructions. They look so legit! While I had the ribbon printer up, I learned to change the foils and printed up some custom badge ribbons to hand out at conventions. K helped by coming up with some clever sayings and keeping me on task as we were trying to get the van loaded to leave for San Antonio and I have a tendency to get sidetracked and waste time.

Day 117

Our first day of driving for the trip to San Antonio and AetherFest. We drove through some rain (again) and the silver lining of it this time were the gorgeous cotton candy clouds we witnessed at sunset. It may not be very Steampunky but cotton candy and circuses go hand in hand so we are totally counting this!

Day 118 The Peanut Shoppe

We made a stop on our way to San Antonio at The Peanut Shoppe after seeing the billboards for miles. It looked like a 70s throwback from the rainbow signage and we knew it would have to be good. Endless supplies of sugary treats, nutty goodness, and real beef jerkey did not disappoint! We bought atub of peanut brittle to share around at the convention, some beef jerkey, and some jalapeno brittle which K brought home to her beau. They also had quite the supply of sour ball candies and gummi bears! Just what we like!

Day 119 Circus Pretzels

Our circus for today was provided by our friend Jed. We met via our Facebook page when he started posting his amazing creations and we were instant fangirls. When he found out we were gonna be in his part of the country we made plans to meet up. M was surprised when a man who looked suspiciously like Abraham Lincoln walked up to her and extended his hand in greeting as if he knew her… then she read his name tag and realized he did know her, after a fashion. Well, being the awesome fella he is, he brought us pastel pretzels for our sweet cravings and our circus! Yaay, for friends!!

Circus-a-Day Project Recap of Week 16

Days 106-108

Saturday (Day 106) was spent at Oklahoma Steampunk Expo – M posed with the stiltwalker outside our booth. Sunday – we have no photos, but we are totally counting the dance we did when the convention hall closed and we were able to pack up. Monday (Day108) we drove from Oklahoma City back to Mount Vernon, 16 hours in the van. We made a brief pitstop to see the World’s Largest Rocking Chair and were sufficiently underwhelmed by the experience. Now that we are home again, hopefully we will be able to offer you better options.

Day 109

So, Monday, we picked up a couple more Denizens: Thor and Blueberry! Tuesday, we ran out of time to make our circus, so at 11:55, Robin gave us 5 minutes to make a drawing using our left hands and without picking the pen up off the paper. And huzzah! (M would like you all to know that her drawing included an alien riding a unicycle and a stiltwalker with a balloon. In case you were wondering…)

Day 110

Today, we had ice cream cupcakes to celebrate Frenzy’s birthday! K started the day early, repairing an old chandelier we were having hung in the stairwell to the third-floor ballroom. K ended the day creating multiple versions of a necklace she designed earlier this year.

M started on a crochet project, but fell asleep as she had put on her snuggly flannel pajamas and taken some cold medication prior to starting. She woke up when she poked herself with the crochet hook and put it down for the night to get some rest. Stay tuned for the finished project!!

Day 111

M finished her crochet project from last night during our product photo shoot today with Main Vine Studio. It turned out much bigger than she expected and so the buttons will need to be moved. It is also supposed to have a second ruffle and a mate, but that will happen later. Hey, I made something, and I am still standing upright, so today is a win so far.

K worked on Fortune Teller themed necklaces that she has been thinking about making for a while now. Today’s is themed “Your future is what you make it, so make it a good one. I started months ago by making the soldered charms. Those of you who make jewelry will understand how obsessed I was with making sure it hung properly and carried the theme. It contains one fortune and a color theme. I definitely think it will impart good fortune to its eventual wearer!

Day 112

M finally got her camera to speak to her new computer and now they are sharing files like old friends! Here is my Circus for Good Friday: a quilled Dancing Horse. I wanted to work on my quilling skills some more and decided to go way outside my skill level and make up my own complex pattern. I probably should have taken photos of the rejected versions as I went along. They weren’t pretty. This one isn’t great either, but I guess I am probably my own worst critic.

K continued her Necklaces of Fortune today with the theme “You will receive a compliment from a stranger.” I used a soldered charm I made using an actual fortune I received when we were in Seattle last year, then added a bunch of other awesome unique pieces from my stash. It is so hard to part with these little treasures, but the end result was totally worth it!