Two Geometric Spirals

This is my last self-imposed homework from Vivian Jones Schmidt’s geometry class at The Center Charlottesville. It’s one circle, but two different ways of creating a spiral inside a circle. I superimposed them. You can more clearly see the spiral of Archimedes in the center because it has a smoother shape. This is a shape that is seen so often in nature, like in a nautilus shell.

The second spiral is a logarithmic spiral with an equal ratio of radius to angle and appears choppier.

It’s one thing to draw the geometry just for the sake of understanding how it’s created. It is very fun to think of how one can play with it. You can make a spiral more than what it is by applying an artistic treatment. Zentangle is a popular art expression.

This is my version of zentangle. I have used this often as a form of self therapy. I like to let my mind quickly flow and my hand quickly respond with lines and images. This seems to allow the subconscious to express itself freely. I will in a future post some of these subconscious expressions. Here, though, I controlled the flow of images around a theme of nature and symbols.

The following three are up-close images of my spiral. I almost forgot to mention that while I was creating this a quote by Robert Edward Grant appeared on Facebook: “Every time you look with awareness, the universe adjusts its geometry.” I wrote this around the outer edge of the circle. That’s something to ponder!

For this painting on Canson 98 lb multi-media notebook paper I used Pigma Micron fineliner pens and Caliart colored alcohol markers.