As viewers, we have a love/hate relationship with abstract or non-representational art. Many admit that they are uncomfortable looking at a piece of art that doesn't represent something recognizable...but engaging in non-representational art teaches us valuable lessons. Artists have long been fascinated with figuring out how to depict the intangible things. Perhaps you can draw someone who is angry or in love... but how do you draw those actual feelings or elicit them from a viewer? For this project, students were challenged to choose a song and paint an abstract painting that represents that song while they listened to it on headphones. Students were encouraged to experiment with color, opacity, paint texture and thickness. They were asked to try scraping, dripping, glazing, speckling, varied brush strokes, and layering until they achieved the desired effect. At the end, each piece should bring forth the overall mood that the song illicits without using any recognizable images. Sounds easy....but as many students found, it's harder than it looks. Enjoy these musical paintings!