By Mary Erickson, Ph.D., with Arizona artist Denise Yaghmourian Tempe Center for the Arts Patterns of Patterns

When similar things are repeated they can make a pattern, like the blue circles repeated in this small study by artist Denise Yaghmourian.

When you know what will come next in a pattern it is predictable and is called a regular pattern. These square mirrors repeat to make a regular pattern in this public artwork by Ned Kahn, installed on windows at the Tempe Center for the Arts.

In an irregular pattern, things are repeated in an unpredictable way. This pattern of circles is not predictable in this carpet designed for the Tempe Center for the Arts by artist Ramona Sakiestewa.

Joan Waters cut a pattern of holes in paper for this sculpture. The light shining through the holes makes a shadow pattern on the wall behind it.

What do you see repeated to make patterns in the background of this self portrait by artist Gary Faigin?

Denise Yaghmourian combined nine squares in this work called Pixel Patterns- Green. Which two of the nine squares have regular patterns? That is, you can predict what will come next. Other squares are not so predictable.

You can make patterns by repeating things in rows, like the regular pattern in the upper right. You can also make patterns by repeating things outward from the center like the irregular patterns in the top center and in the bottom two corners.

One way to create patterns is to repeat elements in rows. 1) The top square is a pattern of seven rows of the same color. 2) The second pattern repeats three colors. 3) The third pattern repeats two alternating colors. 4) How are the two colors in the bottom pattern repeated?

All four of these patterns are made by repeating two colors. Which two squares are regular patterns made in rows? Which pattern is made by repeating colors around a center point? Which pattern is unpredictable or irregular?

The top pattern is called radial because the pattern radiates out the same way in all four directions. The bottom pattern is called bilateral because the right and left sides mirror each other. The beads on the right show the sections that are repeated.

Three of these patterns are irregular. Which one has a regular or predictable pattern?

Three of these are radial patterns. That is, they are the same in all four directions radiating from a central point. Which is not a radial pattern?

Three of these are bilateral patterns. (The right side is a mirror image of the left side.) Which is not a bilateral pattern?

Make at least three different patterns on a pegboard with seven beads across and seven beads down. Row Pattern Radial or Bilateral Irregular Pattern Pattern

Your teacher will cover your beads with a special paper and iron both sides to fuse the beads together.

An alternative to making plastic bead patterns is to make 7 x 7 patterns by coloring squares on grid paper.

When all squares have been fused, spread them out so you can see them. Ask questions to sort them into groups. Which ones have purple beads? Which ones have irregular patterns? Which have blue and are regular?

Denise Yaghmourian’s Pixel Patterns - Green is a “nine-patch” pattern, a term borrowed from quilting. It is a square pattern of patterns with nine squares arranged in rows like tic-tac-toe.

The artist’s daughters made the “pattern of patterns” on the left using fusible plastic beads. The one on the right was made with colored pencils and graph paper.

Ask questions to help your group select squares for a nine- patch pattern of patterns. For example: Shall we make sure every pattern has purple? Shall we alternate cool and warm colored patterns?

Shall we mix different kinds of patterns?... choose only irregular patterns?... use all bilateral patterns?... only work with radial patterns?

Different arrangements express different moods or feelings. Choose one of these patterns of patterns and give it an expressive title.

Denise Yaghmourian made these much larger patterns of patterns with many more beads. Maybe you can see that each is made of nine squares. Pixel Patterns-BluePixel Patterns- Orange

If you could rename the artworks, what title would you give each?

Special thanks to artists: Gary Faigin Joan Waters Ramona Sakiestewa Ned Kahn Denise Yaghmourian