The Art of Découpage
By: Eileen Bergen
http://www.theartfulcrafter.com

Découpage is a very accessible craft for beginners but can also
be taken to artistic heights. In fact serious découpage artists
are known as découpeurs (sometimes spelled “decoupers”). There
is a National Guild of Découpeurs (NGD). NGD is a non-profit
organization dedicated to providing education in the art of
découpage, to encouraging a high level of quality, and to
offering an exchange of creative ideas. NGD is worldwide and
holds an Annual Convention and Exhibition each April. To see some
beautiful examples of découpage, visit their website:http://www.decoupage.org/theguild.asp.

The word “découpage” comes from the French “couper” meaning “to
cut”. Découpage is the art of permanently decorating surfaces with
paper cutouts. The cutouts are glued to the surface and then several
coats of varnish, lacquer, glaze or clear-drying glue are applied
to give a lacquered finish.

The list of items that can be découpaged is virtually endless but
most common are: furniture; wooden boxes and trays of all size and
shape; clear glass objects such as plates, platters, bowls, vases,
candle holders and paperweights; metal trays and boxes; clay pots;
and of course, wall art.

Any theme can be employed but Victorian designs are probably the
most popular because modern découpage is a revival of the art that
flourished in 18th and 19th century Europe.

The art has a long and fascinating history. In eastern Siberia,
cutout felt figures and designs were used to decorate objects found
in tombs dating from before the time of Christ.

The art of elaborate cutting seems to have spread from there to China.
In 12th century China, paper cutouts were used to decorate windows,
lanterns, gift boxes and other objects. After a while, artisans began
applying multiple layers of lacquer to make their work more durable and
attractive.

In the late 17th century, lacquer furniture from the Far East became
fashionable in Europe. Demand quickly exceeded supply and Venetian
cabinet-makers and lacquerers began to copy and change the art form.

At that time, the wealthy were in the habit of commissioning master
painters to paint their furniture. It didn’t take long for the
découpeurs to draw copies of masterworks and have prints made for their
use. In fact, many antiques formerly believed to have been painted by
the masters were later found to have been copies using very skillful
découpage.

To learn more about découpage and how to use this technique
yourself, visit: http://www.theartfulcrafter.com/decoupage-two.html.

Eileen Bergen
The Artful Crafter
http://theartfulcrafter.com

About the Author

Ms. Bergen has had a varied career, first as a special education teacher and than, after getting a MBA degree, as a vice president of a major insurance company. For the last eight years she has been creating and selling her crafts.