“We try to copy these patterns in our lives and in our society, seeking the rhythms, the dances, the forms that comfort…”
“There is in all things a pattern that is part of our universe. It has symmetry, elegance, and grace - these qualities you find always in that the true artist captures. You can find it in the turning of the seasons, the way sand trails along a ridge, in the branch clusters of the creosote bush of the pattern of its leaves. We try to copy these patterns in our lives and in our society, seeking the rhythms, the dances, the forms that comfort. Yet, it is possible to see peril in the finding of ultimate perfection. It is clear that the ultimate pattern contains its own fixity. In such perfection, all things move towards death.”
- Frank Herbert, DUNE
The quote on the right, from Frank Herbert, is one of my few personal mantras. Patterns have a unique ability to attract and repel me with equal intensity—whether it’s clouds, leaves, or the rainbow sheen of an oil-slick.
Although pattern recognition isn’t unique to humans, we do seem to have a tendency to seeking them out more often than other creatures. There are several theories that explain the usefulness of this skill to our very survival; in simple terms, it aids in classifying our environment as “good” and “not good”.
I’d love to hear what you think about patterns!
Watercolour painting of fern leaves; digitally manipulated to resemble a "showgirl" fan
Abstract landscape using limited palette of green & blue shades
Inkwork of turtle investigating a bush of rushes; background of mirrored yellow inkblot, overlaid with dark blue.
Abstract watercolour painting of triangles in various colours, overlaid with scroll sigils in white acrylic.
Abstract collection of spheres.
Abstract painting of a nebula explosion in reds, pinks, and violets.
Red abstract circles in red, yellow, and dark green on a field of light red.
Spheres stacked in a tall pyramid in dark teal and yellow, overlaid with abstract stripes in medium red.
Abstract painting of rock veins in shades of red-brown, grey, and beige