Real World Patterns

Hello everyone! This time I will begin this entry with the...

Art Word of the Week!

This week's art word is patterns! Patterns are "a mark or design that is repeated in some recurring sequence" (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p. 142). It also "suggests flow, rhythm, motion, or movement and they can be symmetrical or asymmetrical" (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p. 142). This relates to ECE because by exposing and teaching children about patterns can help them identify and learn about more shapes. Learning about the concept of patterns will help children build upon their comparing and contrasting skills. For example, a child can look at two patterns and explain their similarities and differences.

For Art's Explorer #4 I have decided to take a slightly different spin on it with the permission of my professor. Instead of finding patterns in an urban city such as Toronto, I wanted to take a more culturally diverse approach to it. This is because I was inspired by photos I took while I was in Sao Miguel (Azores), Portugal in 2008. For those who may not know, Sao Miguel is an island that belongs to the archipelago of the Azores in Portugal. The photos that inspired me and at the same time demonstrated patterns in a cultural and natural context are these beauties: 

Just look at those patterns and colors! I found these patterns to be unique because people who create them are using flower petals to do so. Portuguese people in Sao Miguel decorate their streets by making beautiful patterns with flower petals because it is tradition before beginning the town's feast. This is done in every town in Sao Miguel. Before the town's feast begins, there is a procession that respects, honors, and worships Jesus, other Catholic beliefs, and historical events of their town. About half of the town's people partake in the procession while others just watch the people in the procession following the trail of flower petals to the town's church. People in each town have a responsibility to decorate the streets with these flower petals during the morning when they will be celebrating the feast. 

As you can see from the pictures, different colors and patterns are used. In some pictures you can see some buckets and white bags. These buckets and white bags contain assorted flower petals of various colors. In order to help people create those patterns on the street with the flower petals, they build wooden frames just like the one in the very last picture. Frames like those help keep the pattern consistent and neat as possible. You can see this illustrated in the pictures I have posted. And yes, the town's people do this for the WHOLE town. My favorite part of taking part of this tradition is playing with the fresh flower petals. They smell like a crisp summer breeze and feel extremely soft. After working with the flower petals for a while, your hands become really colorful...like a rainbow! A fun thing to do with the remainder of flower petals is to paint or create a picture with them. 

Anyways, till my next blog post!

~Kellz.

References:

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, E. J. (2009). Art & creative development for young children (6^th Ed.). Delmar, USA: Cengage Learning.