Colorful Sweets

Easy Fun Cupcakes (These kind have no calories too!)

First get familiar with the 3 parts of the cupcake. Practice drawing all 3 parts on scratch paper.

Then make a background table by gluing contrasting color construction paper on bottom half of background paper.

Cut out cupcake pieces. Here we used wrapping paper for the wrappers on the cupcakes.

The collage cupcakes were quick, so we had time to paint some too.

(Thanks to Mrs. Smith's summer artists; Joshua, Kahler and Paige.)

Henri Matisse-Collage

Henri Matisse, French 1869-1954

Matisse's collages/brilliance. He called it, "Drawing with scissors."

Matisse, The Snail

Tate Modern, London

(Can you find the snail?)( Here it is. )
(Also, too hard to see in these photos, but if you look in upper left corner of upper left, lavender cut-out, you'll see a small snail figure moseying along the border. Ha, such whimsy!)

This is one of my favorite works of art to share with children. Also worth noting, you cannot see the edges of Matisse's cut-outs in these pictures, but in real life the edges are NOT perfect by far. The cutting looks like Matisse was working quickly and didn't care in the least that his scissors were not moving in straight lines and that shards of paper were left hanging on edges.

Sometimes I catch myself preferring students to work very carefully on their art, but then I'm reminded of Matisse's Snail and realize that "careful" art is not necessarily something to strive for.

Matisse, The Cut-outs

National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.