Sacred geometry, sacred rectangles...

Going through a bunch of cards and notes, I came across Andy Black's website address. He was probably one of the many people I've encountered through my work with Octavia Foundation. You may like to see his works by clicking here. As they remind me of my friend's Sylwia Nadgrodkiewicz's  fascination with the 'sacred geometry', I shall quote his artist's statement:
'A/B = B/(A+B)  ...is the algebraic expression of a ratio called the GOLDEN SECTION. Any rectangle whose sides are in proportion A and B, is a Golden Rectangle.
This shape figures prominently in the history of art—from the Greeks to the Modernists—but more interesting is how the ratio connects nature and mathematics. It links the Fibonacci series and the nautilus shell, the sunflower and the pentagram. (At one time, it was even supposed the navel divided the human body, on average, into the Golden Section.)
My images each begin with a compass & straightedge construction of the Golden Section. In time, the strict geometry gives way to a more disordered place. The initial drawing becomes scaffolding—some shapes are emphasized, others obliterated. New forms are painted with a loose hand and far less precision. And the means are reduced: pin and string serve as compass, the slat of a Venetian blind replaces the straightedge.
In these works, accident is important, and so is the materiality of oil paint. Thin washes of pigment and solvent, heavy impasto, fresh paint scraped down to pentimento, the inadvertent drip from an overfull brush—a kind of chaos overlying the order.'

Inside the church of John Dee of Mortlake

In Stratford

Having crossed the street where I had never done so before, I 'discovered' two monuments. The above one commemorates a lady who was an advocate of welfare for women and children and the first woman on the West Ham council. Edith Kerrison  didn't want to become Mayor due to her advanced age. You can read about here .  Here you can read about an equally remarkable woman who became the first female Mayor of West Ham: Mrs Daisy Parsons!

Recent bike ride

 I rode my usual route and stopped to take pictures as I do.

 This 'leftover' tree has a lookalike in Richmond:

 A view from Saint Peter's in Ealing:

 There I encountered an unexpected exhibition of a planned refurbishment of this 1950s building that has been abandoned for a good few years.

Creativity discussed at the British Council

I've just come back from a British Council seminar on Creative English Teaching. It was good to meet other teachers and talk to them.
Here are a few pictures taken before, during and after the event:

 After work I had to take the Piccadilly Line to Piccadilly Circus. From there I made my way to The British Council premises near Trafalgar Square. The traffic was normal for London.

Surely, I was late as I couldn't leave work until 6.15, but it didn't matter. I entered quietly and sat at the back. A Greek teacher trainer was half-way through her presentation. Well, I've taught long enough to be familiar with most of the ideas, but it was still good to be reminded. Besides, one thing is to know, the other to make use of the knowledge, isn't it?:-)

My Croat friend, Zoran Mimica, would be happy to see an unfinished  haiku. The idea was to leave out the last 5-syllable line and make the learners guess it. There were a few interesting guesses, but the original one had to be revealed by the speaker. It was something to do with the birds having no necks, but I cannot remember exactly. However, you can go to the British Council website and watch the whole seminar there!

  I must say that Rebecca, who now hosts the BC seminars, is as good as her predecessor, Melissa!

 Sorry, Rebecca, I didn't mean to chop off your head!

 After: