Author Archives: Ian Whiteman

Unknown's avatar

About Ian Whiteman

see www.cwdm-portfolio.com

Maqamats, Sacred Geometry and the Celestial Worlds

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

For years I have tried to understand what the maqams are (or maqamats, known as nawbas in Morocco) and I hope these few words here don’t confuse things further. In these posts I have always sought out subjects where the global homogenisation … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous, music, typography / design | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Write it! Sing it!

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

Where I live there are so many alternative therapies on offer up and down our valley. They include such things as underwater ti-chi to sacral osteopathy, magnet therapy, raw food cults etc., and many you have never heard of before. … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous, music, typography / design | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Art of Art

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

In the aftermath of Steve Jobs’ passing various snippets about his life became public or better known to the public. Whilst being beatified as a genius by some and demonised as a monster by others there were certain sentiments which … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous, typography / design | 2 Comments

The curse of the PA

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

The theme of this post is one that has really bothered me for some time and just how to get into has meant delaying its publication for some weeks. On the surface it appears a rather trivial subject but the … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous, music | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Death and Taxes

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

It’s the old chestnut. Death and taxes: the two inevitable facts of life except taxes are avoidable if you know how, whereas death is not. The other day a female stand up comedienne named Lucy Montgomery stated on BBC Extra … Continue reading →

Posted in typography / design | Leave a comment

The silken curtain call

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

When the singer Amy Winehouse died recently it brought out the usual hypocrisy from the world’s media but largely hid the real tragedy that underpins such happenings. I didn’t know Amy’s music at all – wrong generation – but her … Continue reading →

Posted in music | 3 Comments

In defence of the polymath

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

When Dr Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, berated the English recently for having a too unbalanced educational system I could see his point. But my own very English education looking back was actually very broad and probably accounted for … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous | 2 Comments

Reviving Andalusi script part 2

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

The Style The initial impression of ancient Andalusi scripts is of something beautiful and dynamic, executed quickly and accurately but also with a free spirit, each calligrapher creating their own unique ligatures and flourishes, though still somehow within the compass … Continue reading →

Posted in typography / design | 4 Comments

Reviving Andalusi calligraphy part 1

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

For most people, calligraphy and especially arabic calligraphy is an arcane subject but it’s been a life long involvement for me and I want to introduce some of my own observations on this blog which as far as I can … Continue reading →

Posted in typography / design | 3 Comments

Acequias

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Ian Whiteman

Acequia is the Spanish and Arabic word that describes the ancient system of irrigation that, in Andalusia and other parts of Spain, is still the lifeline of small scale agriculture. Much is written of the great old muslim cities of … Continue reading →

Posted in miscellaneous | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment