Wassily Kandinsky was a groundbreaking Russian artist known for creating abstract art that focused on using colors, shapes, and lines to express emotions and ideas. He believed that art could be like music, with colors and forms working together to create feelings, just like how different sounds make us feel different things. Kandinsky was one of the first artists to experiment with purely abstract art, where nothing in the picture is meant to look like the world around us. He also believed that colors could affect our moods, with some making us feel calm, excited, or even angry. His paintings are perfect examples for showing how abstract art can communicate feelings without using recognizable objects.
Ms. Sadler, visual arts teacher at Flat Rock, introduced Kandinsky’s work through a fun dice-rolling activity. Students rolled a die 6 times, with each roll telling them which different design element to include in their own abstract drawing. Ms. Sadler provided the students with a worksheet (shown below) to guide their creations, helping them explore how to use shapes, lines, and colors to express emotions. The goal was not only to introduce Kandinsky’s innovative approach to art but also to show students that art can be dynamic and expressive without needing to represent real-world objects. By using Kandinsky’s concept of "visual music"—where colors and forms can create a sense of rhythm or movement—the activity encouraged students to discover how they could use art to express their own personal feelings and ideas.
The artwork created by the students is proudly displayed in the hallway!
