Cut Paper Collage

Create art without getting paint on the floor and a mess on the walls. Cut or torn paper collages are an easy way to create simple or complex designs. Made famous by Henri Matisse and Eric Carle, cut paper collages are a fun experiment in focusing on shapes.

Recently, a few kids entered these cut paper collages into a local art contest. 

Look at this one! A curvy whale filled with block shapes. A shadowed water spout and are those nail heads on some of the blocks? Beautiful and full of color. I wish every animal in the ocean was as interesting.

My colorful sea creature wish is granted. Are my eyes deceiving me or does this dolphin seems to be full of love and good cheer? The water is wavy and framed by a block frame with a few stray hearts bobbing around the ocean depths. The background can as easily be an ocean of calm. colorful ripples or wispy clouds at sunset when the dolphin jumps out of the water. 

This last one is a shocker. A bright orange, pink, and yellow jellyfish. Different shapes radiate from the circled body of the jellyfish. The water seems to be moving and bubbling like a shaken can of soda ready to explode. I like this one. 

If you want some more examples of current cut paper collages by great adult artists, take a peek at the work of Carin Berger , David Thorpe, and Philomena Maranao.