By Faith

Patterns have been around for thousands of years The Egyptians used patterns on their mummy cases, and to decorate the walls of their tombs

Patterns were incorporated into building designs by architects. Do you know where or what this building is? What patterns can you see?

Famous artists used patterns in their paintings. Here is an example by Vincent Van Gogh ( ) How has he created patterns in this picture? House and Figure'

What makes a pattern? When they are combined in a variety of repetitive ways, they form what we call a pattern. When we discuss Art works we refer to these as elements of visual art.

Straight or curved Vertical, horizontal or diagonal –Diagonal lines suggest something is moving Sharp angry lines or happy dancing swirls Hard or thick, soft or thin lines Lines can be implied Eyes like to follow lines and collect their meanings. There are many different types of lines:

Colour can add feelings These colours can make you feel warm or excited These colours can make you feel cool or relaxed

COMPLIMENTARY COLOURS –Complimentary colours are opposite each other on the colour wheel, using them together can make patterns vibrant due to the strong contrasts. What are some examples?

1. Geometric; i.e. circles, squares, triangles and hexagons There are 2 categories of shapes: 2. Organic; these are irregular shapes found in nature i.e. people, animals, and plants

M.C. ESCHER Any shape can be used to make a pattern. Escher was an artist who created special patterns called tessellations, these use the same shape repeatedly. Is this a picture of fish or birds?

What shapes can you see in this tessellation? Butterfly Tessellation by M.C. Escher

M.C. Escher What do you notice about this pattern?

My Golden Summer by Bronwyn Bancroft Take a few minutes to look carefully at these patterns What can you say about the artists use of lines, colours and shapes?

Howard Arkley ( ) Contemporary Australian Artist. How does this artist create his pictures? What do you think they might look like?

Howard Arkley was fascinated with patterns. He collected wallpaper samples from hardware stores (like Bunnings), and cut out pictures from house decorating magazines. He then used these to create collages, which were the plans for his paintings. How old do you think these houses might be?

Describe the patterns you see here. What can you infer about the people who might live in this house?

Paintings Buildings Wall decorations Carpets Furniture Nature Maths – number patterns - shape patterns Clothes Screen savers Sculptures Music Dance Gardens Illustrations Texts – Poems Keep an eye out – there are patterns everywhere!! What patterns can you see around the room? Where else have you seen patterns?

Todays Activity:

Pattern Activities in The Arts: Make a fish puppet with scales pattern Perform song 5 Little Fish with the aid of fish puppets. Learn and perform a rhythmic pattern using the body and decorated shakers / rhythm sticks Paint a Van Gogh picture Decorate a plant pot with tiles for Mothers Day Create an Arkley style collage

Activities: English Domain: write a poem using rhyming words to illustrate patterns in words. Maths Domain: –Computer generated tessellations/patterns –Number patterns Other Disciplines Interpersonal development Team performances. Group discussion and analysis of Art Interdisciplinary Computer patterns Poetry writing on computer.

References David McAlliaster, nd, See my Genetic Art, The oldest Escher collection on the web since 1993, (accessed 03May06). Drury,N. 1998, Images 3 Contemporary Australian Painting, Craftsmen House, Sydney Australia. Preble, D. & Preble, S. 2004, Artforms, 7 th ed, Pearson Prentice Hall,New Jersey. Journal of Contemporary Art Inc, 2000, Howard Arkley, (accessed 03 May 2006). Kathryn Andrus, Dept. Visual and Performing Arts, University Colorado, nd, Roman Art and Architecture, (accessed 28 April 2006) The Barnes Foundation, nd, Van Gogh at the Barnes, (accessed 03 May 2006). The Stylofone Foundation, nd, Howard Arkley Gallery (accessed 03 May 2006). Timothy Morrell, nd Howard Arkley, (accessed 03 May 2006). Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2006, Prep to Year 10 curriculum and Standards, (accessed 02 May 2006). Virtual Tourist, 2006, LONDON:British Museum reviews, (accessed 03 May 2006) /Things_To_Do-London-British_Museum-BR-2.html