Lesson 5 (March): Patterns in Art Grade: 1

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1 Lesson Focus: Artists use patterns to create interest in their artwork. Patterns can be created by repeating elements in the painting like shapes and colors. There are different types of patterns: Planned pattern, repeated pattern, AB pattern Radial pattern: a pattern spreading out from a common central point, developing symmetrically about a central point Random pattern: a pattern lacking any definite plan or prearranged order but recognized by the eye as a pattern Art Focus: The print Sonny s Quilt by Faith Ringgold and the book Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold Materials from Art Smart Closet: Grade 1 Pattern Examples (in your folder or print out from website) White paper Materials in Classroom: Crayons, markers and/or colored pencils Ruler (if students are drawing their own border on white paper) Materials from Home and/or Prep Work: An apple, a knife and a paper plate or napkin Optional: draw a 1 border around the inside edge of a sheet of paper and photocopy for students (see art activity) Class Discussion (15 minutes) Today we are going to talk about patterns; and to find out what you already know about patterns, I am going to try a little experiment. I am going to create a pattern and you tell me what pattern I made. While the students listen, repeat this pattern a number of times: Clap your hands -- stomp your feet--clap your hands--stomp your feet What pattern have I made? Great work! That was a planned pattern and our pattern was repeated: AB AB AB... 1

2 Try another pattern: Clap stomp -- snap your fingers clap stomp -- snap your fingers What pattern have I created? Great! I planned a pattern, ABC ABC, and you were able to hear my pattern and tell me about it. Now let s look at another type of pattern. Hold up the apple and ask the students if they can see a pattern when looking at the apple. Tell them to find the pattern, you will have to cut the apple in half. Cut the apple in half (along the equator ) and hold up the two halves. Explain that the pattern they are looking at is called a radial pattern. A radial pattern is a pattern that starts at a center point and spreads out from there. Can you think of other radial patterns? (Wagon wheels with spokes, a galaxy, inside a jet engine, an airplane propeller) We can find patterns everywhere. Patterns are found in plants and in animals. All living things create patterns. Patterns are also constantly being created by the world around us. (Take out Pattern Examples) Have you ever seen the pattern that is made when wind blows across the sand? (Hold up picture of sand dunes) How about the pattern that is seen in the formation of an ice crystal or snowflake? (radial pattern) A pattern is really something that repeats in a predictable way, or in a way that we can expect. Look at these leaves; there is not an exact, planned out pattern but we can see the repetition of the shape of the leaves and the stems. 2

3 In art, artists create patterns in many different ways. Artists can repeat the use of a color or shape to make a pattern. Patterns in art will not always be like an AB pattern; but patterns in art will make sense to your eye. They are called random patterns; patterns that are not always planned out before the artist starts her work, but somehow you will find something repeated in the finished project. If you take a good, long hard look at a piece of art, you will discover if there is a pattern or not; whether it s a color repeated, a shape or an object. Today we are going to look for patterns in a painting by Faith Ringgold. Faith Ringgold is an African American artist that was born in Harlem, New York; a very poor city. She had asthma growing up, was often times sick and had to stay home from school a lot. It was at home that her mother and grandmother taught her how to sew and make things. When her mom passed away, Faith decided she would sew together a quilt about her mother as a way to remember and honor her. As an artist, Faith Ringgold combined painting and sewing to make her very own art forms. This is a painting that Faith Ringgold made called Sonny s Quilt. The quilt tells the story of Sonny Rollins, a well-known jazz musician in pictures. This is a painting with a border made out of pieces of fabric. Who is the subject in the painting? The subject is who the painting is about: the musician. Let s take a good, long look at Sonny s Quilt. What patterns can you find? Repeated shapes in the buildings: squares and rectangles, the crisscross lattice pattern at the base of the buildings, the lines used in the bridge, solid lines, segmented lines, the colors and shapes in the border, lines in the water, patterns of color combinations What is not repeated in the painting? The musician. Why is he not repeated? He is special. He stands out from everything else. This is Sonny s quilt! He is the focal point of the painting. 3

4 This painting may look familiar to some of you. Have any of you ever seen or read the book Tar Beach? (Hold up the book) Artists have a certain style. Many times when you get to know one of their pieces of art, you start to recognize if you see their work again. Faith Ringgold created the art work in this book to help her tell a story. Let s take a quick peak inside and look for patterns again. (If you are short on time, you could just point a few repeated patterns out for the students that you see in the book.) 4

5 Art Activity (15 minutes) Pattern Picture Explanation of activity for presenter: Either pass out photocopied page with border for students or have them create their own border on a piece of white paper with a ruler. The idea is to have them create a patterned artwork like Faith Ringgold. Students will create a patterned border inside the 1 margin of the page. They will choose what to draw in the center: something that is their focal point just like Sonny in Sonny s Quilt. Explanation to students: In the center of your paper, I would like you to draw the subject of your artwork; what your picture will be about. (For example, a favorite animal, a special person, a fun activity you like.) Just like Faith Ringgold used patterns in her art, you are going to create a patterned border to frame your picture. Think about the quilts that the artist has made. Think about repeating colors, shapes and designs. The pattern does not have to be an AB pattern, but it can be. Fill in the rest of the white space with the background for your picture. Just like Faith Ringgold had the musician playing over the bridge, decide where the subject of your picture is and create its surroundings remembering to repeat colors, patterns and designs when you can. To complete your drawing, give it a title and write it on the back of your picture along with the artist s name yours! 5

6 Artist/Artwork Background Information: (Reference for Presenter) One contemporary African American artist that students should know is Faith Ringgold, born October 8, 1930, during the Great Depression in Harlem, New York. They should learn about her because her art is somewhat different from the other artists. It differs by the media she used in her expression. She began her artistic career more than 35 years ago as a painter. Her expertise with cloth, which she had learned as a child, became a part of her work. As a child she had to stay home from school a lot because she had asthma. When she was home her mother taught her to sew and make things. He mother took her to museums and to see great actors. When her mother died she started making quilts to honor her. Then she wrote stories on her quilts. This skill led her to produce Edith and Bessie, her aunts, in two life sized cloth masks. They can be worn as a costume or hung from a wall. She used many materials to make them. The heads are painted canvas; the dresses are embroidered cloth with beads and fringes. Another, Martin Luther King, is larger than life size. The head is made of foam rubber, sewn and painted in a way to make the face look like him. She even let the stitching show his wounds. As her soft art developed, she began to make sculpture and eventually quilts. Lena is a soft sculpture of a homeless woman in Harlem. Then Faith Ringgold began to use her soft art to tell stories. Her quilt, Sonny s Quilt, tells the story of Sonny Rollins, a well-known jazz musician in pictures. Her picture book, Tar Beach, a Caldecott award winner, combines autobiography, fictional narrative, painting and quilt making into one art form. It is the first in the five quilts in Ringgold s Woman on a Bridge series in the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Reading about this colorful picture to the students would be an excellent way to introduce them to the Harlem female artist. Ringgold s work will inspire the students to explore a variety of media in creative artistic expression. Faith Ringgold has been addressing social issues in her art since the early 1960s. The purchase of her Tar Beach story quilt by the Guggenheim Museum demonstrates the acceptance of her fabric art by the fine arts community. 6

7 An examination of the connections between Ringgold s fabric art and picture books, including connections between themes, characters, narrative style and her use of visual elements, points to the conclusion that her quilts and picture books are related in their use of literary and fine art elements. Using Ringgold s work as an example, this article supports the view that picture books should be considered a fine art form. She has exhibited in major museums in the USA, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. She is in the permanent collection of many museums including the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Museum of Modern Art. Faith went to City College in New York to learn about art. Today she is an Art Professor at the University of California in San Diego, California. Faith has a studio in Englewood, New Jersey. She is married and has two daughters and three grandchildren. Sonny's Quilt 1986 Acrylic on canvas with pieced fabric border 84.5 x 60" 7

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