Sometimes our journey takes us away from our homelands and we find ourselves raising our children in a very different culture and landscape. The thread that connects us to our heritage gets broken, and some of the ways that we relate to our parents and ancestors can’t be passed on. It can feel isolating and deeply saddening as there are no words that can express the collective wisdom that we want to pass on. Language cannot deliver the message, because the context is lost, and the second generation misses out on the poetry and the literary life. Sometimes parents cling onto traditions that have outgrown their time and place as a way of holding on to the preciousness of our heritage, however that tends to create more friction than connection.
At other times our journeys may take us to lands where we meet other cultures that we form a deep connection with. Something in the place, the colours, the shapes, speaks to us, and leaves a lasting impression.
We journey through the year, experiencing seasonal changes and watch nature as it blossoms and blooms, ebbs and flows. What wondrous cosmic laws governs these cycles? How are we part of them? How we can connect to them?
There is silent, quiet and faithful servant that has always acted as that bridge and connection, that often gets forgotten or overlooked: art. Through art and artistic engagement we are not only taking part in the process and thinking that generated great pieces of art from our heritage, it helps us appreciate the wisdom that created that art and be nourished by the beauty of the arts.
“He to whom nature begins to reveal her secret will feel an irresistible yearning for her most worthy interpreter-art” Goethe
Geometry is one of these forms of arts, considered by Socrates as ‘the art of the ever true’. Geometry has a universal quality that helps us appreciate the connections and the unity that exist in diversity. Participating in geometry taps into our creativity in a gentle and satisfying way which makes it accessible to all ages and abilities.
One such geometry pattern is “The Breath of the Compassionate”, it is a pattern that has been the base of many patterns across time and place from Alhambra to Uzbekistan. In learning how to draw the Breath of the Compassionate (Rahman), we also learn about the qualities of the pattern and the pattern’s way of expressing nature, its symbolism and where it gets its name from.
“In the universe , there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors” William Blake.
Interested to find out more about learning to draw “ The breath of the Compassionate” ? Contact geometryartworkshop@gmail.com
