Sandra DeLozier Coleman
Returning from a Paris trip that allowed time for simple walks around our neighborhood, I have a renewed appreciation for a city built upon centuries old, carefully planned symmetries. Books have celebrated the doors of Paris, whose variously colored double panels are often ornamented with carved designs or surrounded by bas-relief sculptures, offering additional layers of symmetry. A favorite sight for visitors is a passageway in La Place des Vosges where a large arch for cars is flanked by two smaller arched passageways for pedestrians, all passing through and under a building that is a virtual tribute to symmetry. Rose windows, arched windows, symmetrical alcoves and columns fill so many churches and quintessentially Parisian buildings.
A compass rose can’t begin to capture all that we saw, but creating this drawing in my usual style, without the aid of a computer or measuring devices, has allowed me to reflect on images that I found to be calming and beautiful because of the symmetries involved. This hand drawn design, reminiscent of the old cartographers aids to explorers, is my way of encouraging travel -- especially quiet, unhurried travel. Not only in Paris, but wherever we go, if we take the time to look, we are likely to find that an affinity for the use of symmetry in art and architecture is both ancient and universal.