Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes – Part A: Investigating patterns
30 minutes – Part B: Create your own patterns and marks
40 minutes – Part C: Developing your patterns and ideas
10 minutes – Reflection

Part A: Investigating patterns

Step 1.

Explain to your class that today they will be investigating patterns and how artists such as Joshua Yeldham create patterns in their art.

Step 2.

Present a couple of different artworks by Joshua Yeldham or flick through the student resource booklet: Joshua Yeldham Student Resource and discuss the various artworks, patterns and marks.

Artwork 1 Example:

The Archibald Prize 2013
AGNSW 23rd March - 2nd June 2013
Joshua Yeldham
Self-portrait - Morning Bay
Instrument, cane, shells and oil on carved board
200 x 244cm

Step 3.

Ask your class to consider the following:

What do you see and how did the artist experiment with shape, line and repetition to make patterns?

Step 4.

Play the video of Joshua Yeldham:

Source: https://vimeo.com/625980093/1ecddb0c62?share=copy

Split students into groups of 3 to 4 and assign a question to each group and ask your students to discuss the following:

How has the artist broken from established forms of mark and pattern making?
What do you think inspired these marks and patterns
What do the patterns communicate about nature?
How has the natural environment influenced Joshua's artworks?

Step 5.

Take your class outside and ask them to bring their art materials with them. Find a spot somewhere that you feel comfortable and ensure your students can see and hear you. Don’t rush the importance of finding their special place to create. It is important to ensure each student feels comfortable and has found their seat in nature.

Step 6.

When everyone is seated, ask your students where they may encounter or see patterns in their day to day life and elaborate on patterns, colour, art, design, repetition etc.

Step 7.

Then ask students whether they believe they are made of patterns? Invite your class to take a look at their hands, feet or a friend's face and if they are able to identify specific lines or marks? Once students have taken the time to investigate patterns on their body answer the following questions as a class:

What patterns or marks did you notice on your face, hands, your palm? Lines, shapes, grooves.
How do you think these patterns are formed? Age, environment, genetics, wisdom, weather, laughter?

Step 8.

Explain to your class that they have 5 minutes to gather or take pictures (if you have access to a device) of objects in nature that have patterns. Remind students to be gentle and discuss what behaviours you expect of them and how to respect nature.

Some examples of objects in nature may include:

Leaves. Though very different - have characteristic lines on their surface. These characteristic patterns are parts of the vascular system of plants
Rocks. Striped patterns in stones are usually caused by layers of sediment that have accumulated over time
Trees. The types of shapes that emerge from repeating patterns across a range of scales are known as fractals
Flowers. Repeating permutations of layers and spirals to form graceful patterns and designs. If you look closely you can see the petals encircle a floral centre, or one side of a flower reflecting the other side, which enhances the beauty of the botanical design.

Bring your class back together and reflect on the various patterns we have noticed and conduct a small gallery tour of what everyone has collected. It may be interesting to take note of different patterns so that the class has various viewpoints to consider while making their own pattern. Students will begin to notice the frequency of patterns and how prevalent they are.

Some patterns and visual language describing the natural patterns may include the following:

Symmetries: the quality of being made up of exactly similar parts facing each other or around an axis.
Spirals: winding in a continuous and gradually widening (or tightening) curve, either around a central point on a flat plane or about an axis so as to form a cone.
Meanders: following a winding course
Waves: to impart a curving or undulating shape
Foam: a light frothy mass of fine bubbles formed in or on the surface of a liquid or from a liquid
Tessellations: a covering of an infinite geometric plane without gaps or overlaps by congruent plane figures of one type or a few types
Cracks: to break, split, or snap apart
Stripes: a long, narrow band or strip differing in colour or texture from the surface on either side of it
Branching: A stream that flows into another usually larger stream.

You may like to create or extend on the Arts Terminology list so that students can refer back to these words when discussing their artwork. Alternatively, ask students to refer to the student resource booklet: Joshua Yeldham Student Resource Glossary.

Part B: Create your own patterns and marks

Step 1.

Provide students with a template (or ask your students to create their own template) and invite them to start creating their own patterns. Remind them about what Joshua Yeldham spoke of in his video and how to relax into nature, just be and draw.

It may seem daunting at first but ensure students that this exercise is about letting go of perfectionism and following their own creative intuition

Print or download the example template: Making patterns template below:

Joshua Yeldham arts template for making patterns

An example of patterns created in nature:

Joshua Yeldham - examples of patterns made in nature

Note: You may find that some students may feel the need to get out a ruler, compass etc during this process whereas other students may prefer to complete this freehand. There is absolutely no right or wrong way to tackle this task.

Step 2.

However, be sure to set a timer for this step. Let your students know that they have no more than 20 minutes to work on their patterns and this is merely a practice exercise to help them develop an understanding of how to make patterns and their personal preference for pattern and mark making.

Part C: Developing your patterns and ideas

Step 1.

Now that you have explored the meaning of patterns and how they occur and what they look like, invite your students to pick a pattern or patterns to create an artwork.

Step 2.

Before your students commence this task, ask them to think about and visualise what they would like to do with the patterns they have created and how they might display them to an audience?

Project the questions on the board and ask your students to think about the questions or discuss this with a friend before they commence creating their artwork.

What patterns will you use?
Will your pattern be applied/weaved into an existing artwork or a new artwork?
How does the pattern reflect you or nature and how does it make you feel?

Step 3:

Students choose an image, shape, pattern, or landscape to which they would like to apply meaning and create an artwork with their patterns.

Prompt students to think about where and how they could apply pattern art:

T-shirt
Body art
Painting
Sculpture
Drawing
Digital artwork
Textile and tapestry

Step 4.

Provide your students with materials and enough time to create an artwork that shows their understanding of patterns in nature.

Step 5.

Ensure students paste and reflect on the process in the art portfolio

Reflection

Ask your class to reflect on today’s lessons with a friend and discuss how they feel about their new artwork:

What emotions does your pattern evoke?
How did it feel to create patterns and practice different ways to make marks?
How has nature influenced the way you perceive the world and develop marks?
How have these lessons impacted your perception of patterns and mark-making?
What makes your artwork interesting, and what aspects of your work would you like to continue to investigate or experiment with?

Differentiated Learning

Extension -

If you notice that particular students have developed a curiosity or interest in patterns, ask them to complete or read through the following:

Step 1.

Ask your students to investigate various artists known throughout history for their patterns and use of repetition for inspiration. Ask students to investigate some famous patterns artists have created in the past:

Art of repetition: magazine.artland.com/the-art-of-repetition-top-10-pattern-artists
Famous pattern artists: widewalls.ch/magazine/famous-pattern-artists-names

Step 2.

While observing the artists students can take notes about specific artists and techniques they would like to learn more about or are interested in. A simple way to do this may be to create a table that looks like the following:

Artist	Artwork	Technique

Students do not have to write in the boxes and are encouraged to draw if it makes it easier for them to remember or recall the information.

Step 3.

While working through the patterns, styles and artists consider posing some questions to encourage students to think deeply about what they are seeing:

What is intriguing about this artist?
Explain what makes their work so compelling? Is it the colour, technique, emotion you feel, aesthetics, etc?
Think about where the patterns were displayed? Did you know artists displayed patterns on walls, paper, trees, buildings, textiles etc?
After exploring some of the various patterns and discussing techniques, styles, and colour, refer back to Joshua’s artwork and see if students can identify how and where these techniques are similar or different?
How is the artist's use of pattern work different from any other techniques and or artists?

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Lord Howe - Making Marks And Patterns in Nature

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