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Stone, Gravity,
Symmetry, Fibonacci and Thea Alvin.
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When someone connects with natural materials and the laws of
nature, and brings to them experience and creativity the result,
in Thea's case, is a collection of
flowing sculptures. This is the extraordinary work of
Thea Alvin
an artist, sculptor and dry stone mason based in Morrisville, Vermont, USA.
This winding wall of arches (right) stands at her Vermont studio locked together with gravity,
inspired by nature and Thea's love of mathematics.
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Much in the same way these stones rely on each
other for support, Thea shares her home with others. Together they
tend the orchard, vineyard, gardens, goats and flocks
of geese and chickens living a creative and supportive life
together. Fibonacci mathematics drives Thea's
designs and sets the rules for the Roman Arches that she often
builds. The Roman Arch is a semicircle where all angles between the stones point to the centre
of the circle. If this simple rule is obeyed the arch will stand. Here's a video from Thea with students learning to build arches
with varying degrees of success, but as Thea says, "What did you
learn about symetry? It's important."
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Refining her skills all the time Thea can't resist
transforming stones into sculptures. Her energy and enthusiasm for
her profession has made her a key figure in Yestermorrow's
training program both in the USA and Italy where she teaches.
Here's Thea introducing the different components she brings together to
create stone sculptures.
Left is a spiral cistern designed and built by Thea. The work
consumed an extraordinary 500 tons of stone brought together as
dry stones with balance, symmetry, experience and gravity. You can
see more of the work on Thea's facebook page in the album 'Maxwell
Cistern Gardens'. |
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The Fibonacci Series
The series appears in nature from the patterns of
seeds in the sunflower to the growth of the snail's shell and
the distribution of leaves growing on the stem of a plant. It
may also be instinctive in humans in finding the proportions
of the Golden Ratio pleasing to the eye. You can listen to a
discussion of the Fibonacci Series in this
BBC Radio 4 program where at 14 min 50 sec they discuss
the human instinct.
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When Thea (left) isn't teaching she builds
impressive stone buildings like this chapel (right) with a triple
gothic arch on the doorway and a starburst window. Workshop...
Masonry Restoration, 6th July. Italy
Join Thea on a 15 day course in Italy to learn about the
preservation, restoration, and adaptive re-use of historic
vernacular masonry buildings in the Piedmont region
VIDEO.
You will analyze and document existing structures and
devise strategies and designs for the re-use of selected buildings
while maintaining their historic features. Studio design time will
be supplemented with hands-on construction on projects within the
village. Field trips off-site, guided by an architectural
historian, will be scheduled to supplement the main work of the
course. This course, taught in English. More details on
Yestermorrow.
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