Hyperbolic Space and Crochet Coral

I am a big fan of crochet.  There's something amazing about turning a long piece of string into just about any form you can dream up.  With so many hobbies and responsibilities though, I don't crochet often.

A couple of days ago I really felt like crocheting, the problem was I'm a righty and was experiencing some hand fatigue (pain really) from constant use of it.

So I set down the yarn and hook and opted to watch a little Netflix.  A settled on a grouping of TED Talks that was on Math.  I did not know or plan it, but the first episode happened to be about Crochet!  A fun synchronicity, I thought.

The talk was about the worldwide Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute for Figuring in Los Angeles.  This project is decribed as:

"The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef is a woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft, and a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world." -Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef

Watch the TED Talk here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/margaret_wertheim_crochets_the_coral_reef.html

This project is by no means new, but I just found out about it.  Our planet and the abundant life on it, are so very beautiful and the more I learn about it, the more it amazes me.  There's an amazing harmony to it all that reiterates itself in every scale of life..  I just had to get in on..

Here is the first piece I made:

It was quite simple and I didn't actually follow any pattern. 

Here's a sample of a bleached coral reef installation via 

MUSEUM KUNST DER WESTKÜSTE, ISLAND OF FÖHR, GERMANY

I'm very impressed by the work I've seen online by countless contributors. For more beautiful samples check out this article on Smithsonian.com.

Finding My Calling

Are you one of those "lucky" people that do what you love for a living or have always known what you want to do? I certainly wasn't, or was I? I think I was but I let fear and doubt get the best of me for far too long.

My whole life I have loved art.. It's been more than a hobby. If I have ever identified with any label, it has always been artist.  In my teens I stuck to drawing with pencil and pen.  Most of my work at that time was black and white.  I was almost afraid of color. Needless to say, I had no self esteem when it came to my artistic abilities at that time.  That led to about two years of producing almost no art as I struggled to find myself and my calling.

As I've mentioned before, I started college in another area I loved but didn't devote much time to... writing. If I wasn't drawing, I was usually reading or jotting down notes of things I wanted to write about.  The thing was I didn't actually write much aside from school work, letters to friends and my journal.  I felt lost.  I had always been told I was a good writer, but I didn't feel like it.  I didn't actually feel the euphoric trance that I would get with art as I'd lose myself in a piece with no concept of time.

While studying English at my University, I noticed that the art building was very close to the building that held the majority of my classes.  At this time I was already getting back into drawing and hanging cute little things on my dorm room door.  I ventured over to the art building and was awestruck. It was profound.. It was great.  It was almost the same feeling I got when I attended Comic Con SD for the first time.  I felt like I belonged.  I had found my long lost love again and this time, I had the sense to realize and appreciate it.  After that I changed my major to art.  I have never doubted that my calling is art since then.  I haven't always been as sure about what specifically in art I could do as a living.  That has become much more clear these days but I'm still working on it.

I absolutely love this little comic a fellow DeviantArt-ist made.
http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=bloom+like+an+artist#/d39dk8e

Like an artist by *JellyVampire on deviantART