About the session
- Why geometric art is the perfect gateway for building creative confidence. Clarissa explains how step-by-step geometric processes remove the fear of the blank page and provide supportive guidelines that help beginners feel safe to experiment with color and design.
- How symmetry naturally delights the human eye and creates beauty from simplicity. Even the simplest designs—just "three blobs" reflected and rotated—become pleasing patterns because our brains are wired to find symmetry satisfying and whole.
- The practical technique for creating botanical mandalas using reflection and rotation. You'll discover how to design one "pizza slice" of a mandala and use tracing paper to multiply it into a complete circular design, with options for both rotation-only and reflection patterns.
- How to use scaffolding in art as a path toward full creative freedom. Geometric structures act like training wheels that you can eventually remove, allowing you to progress from guided pattern-making to uninhibited abstract expression at your own pace.
- The meditative power of paper stitching as a low-stakes creative practice. This forgiving technique lets you punch holes, stitch through them, and simply unthread if you make a mistake—making it ideal for building confidence without fear of failure.
Clarissa will guide you through creating a botanical mandala by designing just one "pizza slice" with simple nature motifs, then reveals the magical moment when that single slice transforms into a complete symmetrical pattern through reflection and rotation. Using nothing more than tracing paper, a pencil, and a spoon, you'll discover how geometric principles turn your humble sketches into something unexpectedly beautiful—proving that you don't need to be an artist to create art that delights the eye.
About the speaker
First and foremost an educator, Clarissa’s passion is introducing beginner artists to the truly accessible art of geometry. She delights in sharing her ideas, materials, and techniques with others, and her background in mathematics teaching enables her to demonstrate and explain difficult concepts simply and clearly. In her own artmaking she enjoys exploring the interplay between the precision of human-made geometry and the more organic and chaotic geometries and symmetries found in nature. She often includes paper stitching in her work, where it complements and enhances the geometry of her mixed media pieces.
