Kandinsky inspired snail art

Who would have guessed that the common garden snail would inspire great art.

As part of our snail inquiry/investigation/curiosity/learning, we wondered about how we could be snail inspired artists.

When we did some research, we discovered that we were not the first to be inspired to creation by the garden snail.

While Kandinsky was not inspired by snails,  hid work Farbstudie definitely inspires snail art.

We read The Noisy Paintbox.

author - Barb Rosenstock

illustrator - Mary GrandPre

publisher - Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2014

Goodreads summary and review

We learned that Kandinsky had an unusual condition that caused him to hear sounds when he saw different colours. When he grew up, h tried to be a lawyer like his family wanted - but that did not make his heart happy. He tried to paint like other famous painters, but that did not make his heart happy either. When he painted, playing with colours and shapes, then his heart was happy. 

After investigating snail shells (and learning about snails) and looking at how Kandinsky's played with colours in his painting Farbstudie, the kids used water colour paint pucks to paint Kandinsky circles.

Like Kandinsky, they were thoughtful about colour choices and placement. 

The finished snail shells were a work of art in their own right. I almost did not want to put them onto snail bodies.

But the kids  did.

I drew snail bodies for the kids - they wanted to focus on the colour and painting rather than the shape of their snail body.

The snail bodies ranged the colour of the rainbow - and rainbow coloured.  (Don't you love the artist's concentration and thought about her work.)

The kids attached the snail to the shell.

And they looked amazing. 

We find Kandinsky inspiring. Click on the photo to see our other Kandinsky inspired projects.

We also like snails.