For a while now, I’ve been in awe of Sacred Geometry. I’m not sure which is more profound, the ultra-worldly nature of the Sacred, or the extreme complexity of geometry. Both, however, need each other, and I really need help with the geometry part. My go to when in need, is to take a class. This post shows my first three classes. The images are my first three self-enforced homework assignments.
Painting #1
Every shape and form in the universe is fundamentally related to geometry. I’ve noticed this to an uneducated degree when looking at flowers. With a compass and ruler, I used what we learned in class to construct a hexagon and achieve a 6-point division. I divided and overlapped smaller and bigger circles. This helped me imagine a flower at some basic level. Repetition helps to hone in knowledge. But, this made me wonder what the shape of vines and leaves would be, geometrically speaking. I don’t know so I drew some leaves and vines from imagination. My thought after spending four hours, was to envision a finished painting. It would have geometric shapes of flowers in the background. A couple of realistic flowers would seem to come out from the background. Maybe I will paint such a painting.
Painting #2
The second class was fun, too. We experimented with constructing equilateral triangles inside of a circle. We also worked on segmenting lines that formed curves from straight lines. It reminded me of the various webs circumscribing our planet, like satellite constructions or the invisible Schumann resonance. My homework from this class was to play with line segments and circles. I should have considered a design pattern. My constructs were all over the place. But, in the middle of my fun, Amazon dropped off a package of design stencils. My child instinct was to throw more into the pot, so to speak. I chose 4 different stencil patterns (one looked like a tree and the other three were of circles and paisleys.) At the end of my stencil fun, there remained a hole of white in the middle of the page. This did not feel right and I took a step back.
My entire life and process as an artist has been to view art as a form of communication and conversation. During the art process it’s between the canvas and my brain. I make a mark and the canvas suggests what to do next. After completion of the painting, the conversation is between the canvas and the viewer. At this point in the process, the painting communicated with me. It suggested that an eyeball was the fitting thing to fill the hole.
Painting #3
The third class was how to inscribe equilateral triangles and a hexagon inside of given circles. (The hexagon can create a hexagram or 5-pointed star.) Then divide them up as many times as you want. Dividing can get pretty complicated. It’s easy to lose track of what you’re doing. This is because there are so many lines crisscrossing everywhere. My goal in my homework practice was to get as messed up as I could, and still keep things recognizable. I made the equilateral and hexagon triangles next to each other and divided each again inside of their same circles. Then I inscribed circles around this and divided these circles up multiple times. It helped to add color near the end, but still, visually, it didn’t make sense to me as a design. After a while of looking, it reminded me of actual bugs I have seen. I decided this was going to be a space bug. I added eyes, tail, tentacles, and planetary circles around it. I also used some neon pencils and pens.
In conclusion, it seems like geometry is removed from most art practice. Nonetheless, my intention in learning some geometry is clear. I want to use it with some accuracy. I will apply it when I incorporate sacred geometry into my paintings. Throughout my art career, I’ve realized an important lesson. The more art skills I embed into my brain and hand, the easier creativity flows.
I created my paintings on 14″x 17″ 60 lb paper. I used Prismacolor pencils, Posca pens, Overseas acrylic paint markers, and Tulip neon fabric markers. Tools included a compass, a ruler and plastic stencils.
The Geometry class was offered by The Center in Charlottesville VA, by Vivian Jones-Schmidt in October 2025.
susan krieg 