About | Samira Mian Islamic Geometry | London

In Short

An artist and educator with a passion for Islamic Geometry. By tapping into my 12 years teaching Mathematics at secondary school, I have been able to share my passion for the compass and straight edge constructions of Islamic Geometric Patterns in the UK, abroad and online since September 2015. For me it is an immensely satisfying pursuit, from analysing and constructing the patterns, to painting them in watercolours and gouache and most of all, sharing with others, bringing this art form to a wider audience.

See what I've been up to in my NEWS section

A bit longer...

I use my background in Mathematics and Education to share my knowledge and artistic passion. Breathing new life into the centuries-old technique of straight edge & compasses geometry to recreate geometric patterns from the Islamic Lands.

I research & analyses the geometry of these patterns to create intriguing and beautiful art. I'm not necessarily a traditional artist and love working intuitively, reimagining these great patterns with a fresh eye in contemporary colours & styles.

In the last year, I was commissioned to complete my first Public Artwork as part of a local project called Northolt Art Stops in West London. I also completed my first brand collaboration with Porsche Middle East as the Artist for the 2024 Porsche Ramadan campaign. I produced a range of contemporary designs which were used for Ramadan and Eid by Porsche Centres and Partners across the Middle East in their social media, promotions, showrooms and beyond.

I've dedicated the bottom of my homepage to NEWS to record the exciting things I've been involved in since the summer of 2016.

For the last 8 years, I've has regularly led workshops in the UK, abroad as well as reaching many online through live and recorded classes, social media, YouTube channel and Patreon. Being part of a global community enables her to teach online with her own courses and workshops as well as bespoke workshops in collaboration with schools, societies, museums, charities, corporate staff events and families.

My biggest motivation is to share this intellectual & beautiful heritage from the Islamic Lands and the immensely satisfying pursuits they involve with the widest possible audience. I'm passionate about contextualising the patterns I teach, so that we can know & enjoy the beautiful intersection of history, religion, geography, art, design and mathematics that occurs when we recreate these beautiful geometric patterns.

Sit down and grab a cup of tea....

So, let’s say this all began in the Autumn of 2013, when I made my way to Hackney, in the East of London, one Saturday Morning and started studying with The Art of Islamic Pattern. The genuinely inspirational teaching of the massively experienced Adam Williamson & Richard Henry captured my imagination. At the time, as a full time maths teacher, it is fair to say, I had no idea how this seed that was being planted would go on to grow and change my life (dramatic - I know!).

In February 2014, at the end of my second course with them, I picked up a paintbrush for the first time. This still shocks me as I have always had some kind of creative outlet. Pottery, typography and woodcarving at one point too.

Skipping forward to January 2015, I moved to Fes in Morocco. This was in the middle of my year out from teaching Mathematics at Bishop Ramsey School. A year out that was taking on a life of its own. As busy as I was in attempting to learn Arabic, "shweya bi shweya", I found a lot of time to practise my art. The inspirational surroundings were fuel for my creativity. More or less on a daily basis, I was constructing or painting geometric patterns & floral designs. At first with gouache, and then with watercolour, always with a few metallics thrown in.

Whilst in Fes, I genuinely missed teaching Mathematics. I had been a Secondary school Maths teacher for 12 years. So the teacher in me combined with the geometry fan resulted in me organising and running weekly Islamic Geometry Workshops at the American & Arabic Language Centre in Fes (ALC & ALIF Fes). These were truly wonderful. Firstly I love teaching; secondly I met and made friends with such delightful folk. A genuine highlight of my wonderful time in Fes.

As of January 2016, I am back in London, on a mission to construct more, paint more and lead Islamic Geometric Workshop at various events and venues. Besides the ongoing in person workshops at Harrow Arts Centre, Cass Art Kingston & OPEN Ealing , I've also taught regularly at Cass Art Islington, SOAS and Cass Art Manchester. I am in awe of and eternally grateful to the wonderful Cass Art, who have supported me and my workshops since I began! You can see some of my previous in-person workshops here. (I did run out of steam keeping the website upto date so it;s till Dec 2019!

My ventures into Islamic Geometry went online in June 2016. Udemy has been a great platform for my first online course, perfect for absolute beginners. My second online course went live in April 2017, an intermediate course to take people forward with their construction skills as well as ideas and techniques for painting patterns. Currently I have over 4600 students enrolled in 104 countries. I love seeing their initial intrigue and fascination grow as they produce the wonderful patterns and constructions. Some have shared their work using the hashtag #samiramianonlinecourse.

Lock down made for some mega changes, I updated my YouTube channel with an additional 27 indepth and detailed vidoes, including two free tutorial seires on Twelvefold Rosettes and Fivefold Patterns , with 40K subscribers all being able to access this world of patterns is by far one my favourite things!

Lock down got us Zoom- literate and I ran two really enjoyable online Zoom courses with Dr. Esra Al Hamal, see the Mamluk Manuscripts and Uzbekistan pattern tour.

Lockdown also introduced me to the world of Patreon, it's a way for me to earn a living from my patrons, they support me in my work I teach them a new pattern every month via Zooms + Recordings + PDF guides. I love it so much, as the Patreon Pals are such a talented & encouraging bunch! It's the one thing that has made me feel the most financially stable!

Through Lockdown and as we came back to the new normal, I was working more and more with organisations & brands I was familiar with and being in London really does help! I've run workshops in-person & online with some dream organisations, brands ans museums:

I'm proud to have worked with the following as an educator in person:

As an artist, educator & speaker online:

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And finally as an artist:

What an adventure it has been, I most certainly feel blessed to be in a position to follow my passion, enjoying the great opportunities that come my way and meet some great people – in real life and online!