Drawer

Unlocking Kandinsky Projects

I really enjoyed this class as Kandinsky had so many different styles and approaches to work with! Here is a bit of background on the pieces I've submitted. 

For the purple piece I listened to music and did a sort of "free association" with the shapes and colors that I heard. Sometimes I, too, see colors in sounds and volume, and I sort of assign sounds to scents. (I think of nose-tickly floral perfumes as "high pitched" for example. Do other students here do the same?) Using this gold paint was a lot of fun. 

Unlocking Kandinsky Projects - image 1 - student project

For the black and white piece "Chan Chan" by Buena Vista Social Club was the inspiration 

Unlocking Kandinsky Projects - image 2 - student project

Here are the bits and pieces that were turned into the concertina book. I used some of my grandmother's old gunny sack scraps for the cover. 

Unlocking Kandinsky Projects - image 3 - student projectHere's a better view of the book.

Unlocking Kandinsky Projects - image 4 - student projectI wasn't sure if these colors "worked" but in the end I ended up with some surprising color combinations that are worth exploring. For the next piece I took the original circles, added ink textures and watercolor "buttons" to cover an error then balance out that error for the composition. (Oops. Still, I like the look.)

Unlocking Kandinsky Projects - image 5 - student project

Unlocking Kandinsky Projects - image 6 - student project

This is a study of Kandinsky's markmaking. Some textures are mine; some are his. 

Unlocking Kandinsky Projects - image 7 - student project

This is my original version of Thirty; the oil crayons made the work go *very* quickly and I wasn't happy with the end result.  (Meh.)

Unlocking Kandinsky Projects - image 8 - student project

Here are my sketches for the Munich project. This is a mash-up of photos from Colorado & Nevada which I glued together for a new composition. For people outside the USA, the "R" is an homage to the letters some western towns mark on the hillside. The numbers came from local kids. I love the Club Rio sign. 

Unlocking Kandinsky Projects - image 9 - student project

These buildings started out "splotchy" like Kandinsky's buildings, but I wasn't happy with it so I smoothed out the oil crayons and scratched details into the wax. I'm happy with this piece, even though it's not quite Kandinsky-like. 

Unlocking Kandinsky Projects - image 10 - student project

My version of "Upwards" originally had the circle on the bottom, but I flipped it and liked it better. lol! The colors are atrocious but it was an experiment and I know not to do it again.  (Yuk.) The texture came from a dusting of salt. 

Unlocking Kandinsky Projects - image 11 - student projectPhew! That's a lot to digest. Thank you for offering this class -- I learned a lot.