Painting With Polygons

“Building a new career was really daunting,” she says. She began with what she loved—drawing. Stus started with a sketchbook, a protractor, and a compass, a tool for drawing curved lines and circles. She drew different shapes, including “lots of triangles,” she says. She combined the triangles into other shapes like hexagons. Then she would create a pattern.

While she was experimenting, Stus took inspiration from her hometown. Birmingham has 35 miles of canals. That’s more than Venice, Italy, which is famous for them. Many buildings near the canals have graffiti painted on them. Stus studied the graffiti art as she passed by. “It seemed like the right place to look for inspiration,” she says.

Eventually, Stus developed a signature style, which featured animals made from geometric shapes. She started with small paintings. Now she also paints large murals on the sidesof buildings.

To make a mural, Stus starts small. She sketches her work on a piece of paper. She then traces a grid over her sketch. This helps her understand how many times larger she must scale up her image so it fits properly in a large space. Stus uses the drawing as a mathematical guide to paint the mural. The work can take up to a week to finish.

Stus’s murals are on display in England and Sweden. Later this year, she’ll paint a mural in Florida.

Stus has been working as an artist for about seven years. Now, she feels the results are finally paying off. It’s really great to have a job that you love, she says.

“Building a new career was really daunting,” she says. She began by doing what she loved. This meant drawing. Stus started with a sketchbook and a protractor. She also used a compass. That’s an instrument for drawing curved lines and circles. She drew different shapes, including “lots and lots of triangles,” she says. She combined the triangles into other shapes, like hexagons. Then she would create a pattern.

While she was experimenting, Stus took inspiration from her hometown. Birmingham has 35 miles of canals. That’s more than Venice, Italy, which is famous for them. Many buildings near Birmingham’s canals have graffiti painted on them. Stus studied the graffiti art as she passed by. “It seemed like the right place to look for inspiration,” she says.

Eventually, Stus developed a signature style. This featured animals made from geometric shapes. She started with small paintings. Now she also paints large murals. Often she does it on the sides of buildings. 

To make a mural, Stus starts small. She sketches her work on a piece of paper. She then traces a grid over her sketch. This helps her understand how many times larger she must scale up her image. That way it will fit properly in a large space. Stus uses the drawing as a mathematical guide. This helps her to paint the mural. The work can take up to a week to finish.

Stus’s murals are on display in England and Sweden. Later this year, she’ll paint a mural in Florida.          

Stus has been working as an artist for about seven years. Now she feels the results are finally paying off. It’s really great to have a job you love, she says. 

Fold your paper in half diagonally to make a large triangle. Explain why this is an isosceles triangle.

Fold your paper in half diagonally to make a large triangle. Explain why this is an isosceles triangle.

Hold the 2 corners of the triangle with the same angle measurement. Fold both corners together to the point at the top of the triangle. What shape does your paper form now?

Hold the 2 corners of the triangle with the same angle measurement. Fold both corners together to the point at the top of the triangle. What shape does your paper form now?

Flip the shape over so the folds are face down. Take the topmost layer of paper and fold it toward the top to make a crease. Do you notice any acute angles? Hint: Use a protractor.

Flip the shape over so the folds are face down. Take the topmost layer of paper and fold it toward the top to make a crease. Do you notice any acute angles? Hint: Use a protractor.

Take the same folded piece of paper and fold it backward so that it slips fully inside the fold.

Take the same folded piece of paper and fold it backward so that it slips fully inside the fold.

Flip your shape over to the other side so the two folds are pointing down. Fold each corner halfway so it makes a triangle. Secure the folds with glue so they stay in place.

Flip your shape over to the other side so the two folds are pointing down. Fold each corner halfway so it makes a triangle. Secure the folds with glue so they stay in place.

Flip over and decorate. You can slip the bookmark over the corner of a page.

Flip over and decorate. You can slip the bookmark over the corner of a page.