Central Park: An Inspiration Tour

So as i was saying yesterday, there is inspiration in the details...everywhere! Here are just a few of the motifs that caught my eye when i walked through Central Park last January — and the patterns i created from them. Let's take a little stroll, shall we?

The main entrance to Central Park is at Columbus Circle. It's called Merchant's Gate. There are many other ways to enter the park, but none so elaborate and dramatic as this one. There's a colossal fountain/statue called the Maine Monument that you pass by. It commemorates the sailors who died on the battleship Maine in 1898 off the coast of Cuba. Can you see all those trees just beyond the monument inside the park? Those are silver lindens that line the path and in the spring have flowers that smell like honeysuckle.

(I have to confess i didn't take that picture, but there were no leaves on the trees when i was there and it's just not the same without them!) I made a pattern to commemorate the trees. It's called, you guessed it, Linden. You'll know that one when you see it.

Let's keep walking.

Look down. Right underfoot, you'll walk across many sidewalks that look like this:

These became the pattern called, Cobblestone. This was a really tricky one to get to work as a repeat. It was almost like doing a puzzle trying to get every stone to fit just right. I can't imagine what the work crew went through when they made these beautiful sidewalks, but i certainly have a new appreciation for them!Here we are on Pine Bank Arch (which is really a pedestrian bridge). It overlooks one of the many bridle paths that meander throughout the park. I loved the shapes created by the spaces between the wrought iron on this balustrade:

I combined elements from this with a loose interpretation of the center shape from this (from another bridge):

And came up with this pattern called Carousel. Since 1871, there have been 4 carousels (including the one that's there now) built in Central Park — all in the same location.

Walking down the staircase leading to Bethesda Terrace take a look to the left. There is a different and equally amazing medallion for each step down. I loved the bold shapes and layers of this one:That became the pattern called Esplanade.

**Note: Some of you got a peek at this pattern earlier today, but i've had to go ahead and take it down for reasons that i'll explain later. Sorry! **

On this very same staircase...stop about a third of the way down and take a look to your right:

There's so much to look at in this one! Birds (one is carrying a fish in its mouth! see it?), ferns, seed pods, fruits, and a maze of leaves. I couldn't figure out what to focus on, so i decided instead to try to capture the energy of this and created the pattern North Meadow:

And last but not least, i'll leave you at the Zoo. Have fun!
But please don't feed the squirrels :)