I'm going to exhibit my beaded beads this summer in a mathematical art exhibit in San Jose. It's a small collection of artists, and this is a link to the whole exhibit:

http://myweb.cwpost.liu.edu/aburns/mathfest07/

I'm the first artist on the list.

[:D] gwen

Gwen, that's awesome! Congratulations!

Your beaded beads are indeed works of art, and I always find mathematically inclined women (let alone artists) mind-boggling. I hope you're aware of how gifted you are....it seems you use your brain's capacity in a much more balanced manner than most of us..left half logical reasoning and linear elaboration - right half creativity and abstract thinking. You got the best of both worlds! Math is not in my preferred cerebral hemisphere....I'm left handed and slave to my right hemisphere, in awe of people like you who can rely on both brain halves instead of just one [:D]

You do seem to be the mathematical wizard according to that amazing article you wrote (or co-wrote). Who better to strut their stuff. I'm sure they'll be amazed.

Congrats on being in the show. I think that you beaded beads are the best exhibit. :)

Just curious, did you happen to see the article about medieval Islamic archeticture?

Were they think math had an important role in the design?

If you haven't seen the article, here is a link:
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/science/27math.html

I can't believe that they did this without the aid of computers.

But then again, after seeing your work, I shouldn't be suprised that such amazing talent exsists. :D

Thanks for the link Alex. That article is fascinating. I wish I could see some of those tilings in the middle east myself. I saw some in the south of Spain once, in the Alhambra Palace in Granada. But it sounds like the ones farther east are quasi-periodic, which is so cool. It was Roger Penrose's quasi-periodic tilings of the plane that first motivated me to to start quilting, which was my preferred medium before I picked up beads.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrose_tiling

Sewing a Penrose quilt was a big turning point for me. It changed my view of art as a means to represent mathematics and vice versa.

[:D] gwen

Wow, you use to do those kind of quilts?

That is really crazy, but really cool. :D

Did you do simple wall hangings or a full size quilt with this kind of pattern? It would be interesting to see one of your pieces.

My first quilt was a Penrose quilt, and it's big enough to sleep under, maybe 5 feet long. The top is in silk and the back is flannel, and i hand sewed most of it, including the quilting. It's starting to show some serious wear, so it's not really in good condition to be photographed or displayed. But, it keeps me warm at night and hides my ugly comforter underneath it.

After I learned more about quilting, I found that the Penrose tilings are about as difficult of a pattern that one could quilt. So, most of my subsequent quilts used easier designs to sew, just for practical purposes. It pays time-wise to work with the medium rather than against it.

I've done several other quilts in various sizes ranging from pot holders to queen sized (the technique is the same). You can see a couple of my more recent quilts (that I'm particularly proud of) here:
http://curvebank.calstatela.edu/quilt/quilt.htm
If you scroll to the bottom, you can see how large they are (and a couple of goofy pictures of me explaining them).

Thanks for your interest Alex.

Gwen,

You make math beautiful! It has always been intriguing. I can't wait to fascinate some of my students with math beads showing how truly beautiful math can be! I am going to save this show website to show the 2nd graders how math can be beautiful.
You work is absolutely amazing. I think I am off to purchase a pattern or two so I can wear some beautiful math!

Belle