To me, maths was always equations, algebra, volume etc. It was a class which I dreaded going to in school. In the first half of the lesson, we would be taught something new and then in the second half we would be putting what we have just learnt into practice by doing textbook work. If we didn’t finish the work in class, it would then become additional homework. This was an ongoing cycle. We never did anything exciting or never applied what we had learnt in class into different contexts. This was probably where my lack of enthusiasm for maths began.

It wasn’t until I had taken the Discovering Mathematics module, that I realised just how creative maths can be! Most likely due to my own experience, I had never thought of having a creative maths lesson whereby you can combine the skills which you have learnt in the classroom, to other subjects such as Art.

Throughout history, artists have used symmetry, tessellation and proportion, which are all mathematical skills, to create their works of art. Ancient Greek architects and sculptures, would use the Golden Ratio which allowed them to ensure that buildings like the Parthenon in Athens were visually appealing. Furthermore, portrait painters during the Renaissance period would have to follow specific mathematical procedures to ensure that the proportions of the subject’s head and facial features were in proportion to the size of the rest of their body. Such mathematical procedures were used to paint the world-famous Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.

In our Discovering Mathematics class however, we looked into Islamic art. Islamic art is heavily reliant on tessellating geometric shapes and represents a spiritual vision of the world. Geometry is considered to be at the heart of nature and as such at the heart of Islamic design. We looked into creating our own Islamic art, in which we used the three fundamental shapes in Islamic art; equilateral triangle, square and hexagon. However, 6, 8, 10 and 12 pointed stars are also often used in Islamic art.

I thoroughly enjoyed this class as it allowed me to be creative, something I never had the chance to do whilst I was learning maths in school. I did not have much time to create my own piece of art work, so mines is pretty basic. However, I can definitely see myself looking into either Islamic art, or something similar in the future, whether it be for my own benefit or with a future class. I have attached my own piece of Islamic art.