Mini Monsters from Patterns

Lauren's imagination went wild looking at the detailed tiles from 16th century Iznik, Turkey on display in Gallery 19. When she looked closely at the designs she found little animals or creatures sprouting out of the patterns and shapes.

Time to look closely
Head outside for a nature walk and look for patterns in nature. Look at the nooks and knots in the trees, the veins in the leaves or the details in the petals of a flower. What do you see?

Activity

As Lauren did, use your imagination to find little critters in these patterns. Follow the curves of the lines, the detail of the patterns until they start to form a shape of your mini monster.

Do you see little eyes peering back at you? Or arms, legs or tentacles reaching out or tails and wings flapping about? If so, draw them. You don’t have to limit yourself to one, draw as many as you see. Grab your coloured pencils and fill your page!