How to DIY geometric wood wall art (video tutorial included)

On Monday I shared with you my spring home tour in which I revealed my new geometric wood wall art that I have been working on for the past 2-3 weeks. Before writing a blog post, I had to practice for a bit and gather as much information, so I could share everything with you in detail. I also have to report that I’m definitely addicted to wood-burning now because that is how I created these little geometric patterned medallions which are usually called mandalas. (Also check out my boho DIY light switch covers)

DIY geometric wood wall art or mandala art

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It shows in our home’s decor and previous design decisions that I love repetitive geometric patterns. I also love creating my own artwork pieces.

My inspiration for this tutorial

My first inspiration comes from a catalog I paged through where I saw the below lacey circles metal wall art at Grandinroad which is pretty expensive even on sale. As always, I love the black-and-white pattern but since I already have so much of it in my house, I wanted to do something a little different. When I discovered the wood-burned plates and a bottle at the thrift shop in Germany, I knew immediately that this was the route I wanted to take.

one of my inspiration pieces for making geometric wood wall art

The catalog calls them lacey circles but I would call them mandalas which are geometric mostly round patterns.

What is a mandala?

The literal meaning word Mandala means circle and circle mandalas are definitely more common. They are simple geometric shapes that are made from even divisions of the circle.
Mandalas originated in Hinduism and Buddhism and are spiritual symbols. Old scriptures describe mandalas as symbols of great power or strength, the womb of creation, and the connection with your inner self.

These geometric patterns are definitely something that has been done in countries all over the world and not just in Hinduism and Buddhism for hundreds of years. These types of geometric patterns and not just repetitive circle patterns appear in many different cultures and countries. There are Celtic, Indian, Asian, European and even the Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs are in the form of geometric patterns on circle backdrops but all with their own twists and designs which probably all relate back to the beliefs of sacred geometry. Even our common doilies come in similar patterns and looks.

What are pyrography and woodburning?

Pyrography means writing with fire which doesn’t necessarily have to be done on wood and can be done on other materials as well. Woodburning is, as the name says, only done on wood with a hot burning tool which is also a soldering iron.

I watched a lot of videos on YouTube about woodburning and I loved Kate’s video so much. She has a store on Etsy and she is very knowledgeable.

Materials needed to make geometric wood wall art

protractor
woodworking compass
printed geometric shapes (HERE or free downloads HERE)
clear tape
respirator masks to protect from burning fumes
pliers
pencil
ruler
colored pencils (optional)
carbon paper for transferring patterns
unfinished wood circles (I bought 10″ and 12″ pieces HERE and HERE)
wood burning kit
plate hangers or hot glue and string as shown in the video for hanging the geometric wood wall art pieces
piece of scrap wood

Video tutorial

Check out my video to see what I did exactly with my hands. Should it not load for some reason then you can head over to my YouTube Channel to watch instead.

Step-by-step instructions

I have two versions in this tutorial. One is the symetrical mandala and the other is the straight geometrical piece.

How to draw a mandala (a symmetrical geometric circle shape)

There are many ways how you can draw a symmetrical geometric circle shape but I want to show you how I prefer to do it. It’s a simpler, less intricate, and easier version than some of the downloads that I also showed in this post. (in my video I create a different circular shape than below but very similar)

Mark the center of the wood disc and draw a line

Draw another line through the center in a 90-degree angle.

use protractor for 90-degrees center line

then mark 45-degree angles through the center

drawing in the 45-degree lines through the center

The next step is to mark the circles that will cut through the center lines

marking sections on the lines for circles

Use your compass to draw the circle.

using the woodworking compass for the mandala circles

You can see the measurements I used for the different circle sections in the below photo:

view of the ruler and measurements I used for circles

draw all the circles

I decided to make smaller center circles that cut over each other as shown below…

drawing in the sectioned small center circles

I marked the center for the next row of outer circles.

marking the outer circles of the geometric wood wall art with a ruler

And then drew them with the help of the compass

view of the compass drawing the outer circles

Below you can see the pattern before I drew in some more details by hand.

I started by connecting some of the circles starting from the centers to the outside.

drawing in more details between the overlapping circles

And then drawing in some decorative loops.

looping pattern on the outside of the circles

creating a star shape with the overlapping circles

As another detail, I drew in larger circles to the outside circles. It’s basically circled on circles and circles!

adding some more details with the compass at the end

using the pencil to go over the details before starting to Woodbury

Here is the finished pattern before I started with the woodburning.

view of the finished pattern before woodburning

Tracing a geometric wood wall art pattern

I downloaded several free patterns from a website (HERE, HERE and HERE where you can also choose others) but the sizing was off for the wood circles I had purchased. So I resized them to fit the 10 and 12 inches. The issue was that it didn’t fit on regular 8.5″ x 11″ printer paper. So I printed the same piece section 3 times and just taped the pattern in a continuous circle and cut out the shape. This is possible since the shape is geometrical. Let me show you…

three pieces of identically patterned paper

Find the resized versions for download HERE, HERE and HERE so you can print and put them onto 12-inch circles.

cutting pattered pieces to create one circle

For the smaller wood circle. I taped two of the same print-outs which you can see in my video.

Then place carbon paper under the print-out and secure it with tape…

adding carbon paper before tracing to transfer paper

…and trace the entire pattern with a pencil either freehand or with a ruler.

using a ruler and pencil to trace the pattern

Now it’s time to woodburn you geometric pattern into the piece of wood. For this part, you should definitely watch my video.

I recommend using small pliers to change the tips when they are hot. I have a piece of scrap wood that I lay the hot pieces on and then cover them with a glass, so the cats and humans don’t accidentally burn themselves.

TIP: “It is actually easier to avoid the round shapes on your first try and go with the straight lines to practice.”

using small pliers to change woodburning tool tips

Before you start to trace the patterns I advise you to try out all the woodburning tool end tips on a piece of scrap wood to see what shapes, strokes, and shading you can create with each one of them.

practicing wood burning on a piece of scrap wood

Close-up photos of some of the finished geometric wood wall art pieces

And now below is the above-drawn geometric wood wall art piece burned and colored. Please watch my video to see me actually burning some of the pieces.

finished wood burned geometric wall art with blue accent

Here are two more similar ones I made with a circular structure.

finished mandala pattern with a circular structure from instructional video

wood burned circular geometric wall art piece without color

I wanted to show you a different piece though where I only used a ruler for straight lines and not a compass. This gives it more of the look of a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign. Both are pretty but a very different looks.

wood burned geometric wall art in Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign style

Below are two of the free downloaded patterns that I traced and burned. You can see more details about this in my video as well.

finished wood burned mandala with straight lines and without color

structure mandala with straight lines and dark wood burned shapes

You can also buy different patterns on Etsy like HERE for an example.

Finished geometric wood wall art hanging in our living room

Here are the DIY geometric wood wall art pieces hanging on the other side of my living room as shown in my home tour this week.

DIY geometric wood wall art in our neutral boho living room

Also, check out my tutorial about how to hang a plate on a wall which can be used to hang these pretty pieces.

grouping of three DIY geometric wood wall art mandalas in living room — See the pouf ottoman next to the chair in the above image? See my trick for re-stuffing a deflated bean bag or pouf.

DIY geometric wood wall art mandalas grouped together

different types of geometric wood wall art

And as always, if you don’t feel like making your own, then you can always buy some lovely handmade pieces on Etsy below:

Or you can just add a large mandala wall decal to your home!

In the end, I actually want to create a grouping of all of them to hang onto our fence outside by the stock tank pool. The basket plates that were hanging there in my reveal weren’t made for outdoor use. I need to make sure that I properly weatherproof the mandalas first so they can last outdoors. I don’t want to use polyurethane since it yellows in the sun.

stock tank pool with round basket artwork on fence

More DIY artwork and wall art projects and ideas

what to do with old trophies (and how to repurpose them into a collage to hang on your wall)
DIY brush stroke art
unique DIY modern macrame wall hanging
long macrame wall hanging with embroidery floss

I will keep you updated on what I come up with when the time comes.

Tschüß,

10 Comments

Kimmylouwho says:

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oH, this looks wonderful! and i will try this! Have a very old wood burning kit from at least 20 years ago! Thanks for the video and the lovely photos!

1. Julia says:
  
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  Thank you! The only problem is finding masks right now but burning one or two is probably ok without a mask.
  
Lee Hernandez says:

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For a mask, you could just tie a bandana over your mouth and nose. I like the way you arranged these on the wall so they wrap around the lamp. It just looks like they belong there. These turned out so cool( or hot!).

1. Julia says:
  
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  Yes, you could tie a scarf around your face. Thanks so much!
  
cassie bustamante says:

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these are SO cool! love the unique idea!

1. Julia says:
  
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  Thanks Cassie, they keep me occupied for hours
  
Margaret Ogle says:

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Great wall art. You are very talented.

1. Julia says:
  
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  Thanks Margaret
  
Alison says:

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You are so talented! I especially like the ones with a touch of blue. Beautiful!

1. Julia says:
  
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  Thanks so much Alison