Anne Leslie has been cutting and pasting for over 30 years. As a member of The National Guild of Decoupeurs, she is an artist who revels in the art of decoupage.
Next weekend, as part of the guild’s 30th yearly convention, members and non-members can take advantage of the exhibits and workshops held to learn more about this ancient art.
Thought of by many as a craft where one cuts out pictures and slaps on some Mod Podge, there is much more to decoupage than most people realize. It has a long history that can be traced back to notables such as Marie Antoinette, Madame de Pompadour, Lord Byron, Beau Brummel, Matisse and Picasso.
Decoupage is a 20th century word which comes from the French word decouper meaning to cut-out. “Paper cutouts are reassembled and designed and then glued to a painted or gilded surface. The most traditional technique includes applying 30-40 layers of varnish which are sanded to a beautiful smooth sheen. However, cutouts may also be applied under glass or alternatively raised to give a three-dimensional appearance.”
Chinese peasants were creating paper cutouts as far back as the 12th century to decorate windows, lanterns, gift boxes and other objects. This Chinese practice is thought to have come from Eastern Siberia, where cutout felt figures and designs decorated objects in the tombs of Siberian nomads. For many centuries, German and Polish artisans have also been using cut paper for decoration.
In the late 17th century, people from the Far East started doing lacquer work, mostly in the form of furniture. These Oriental lacquered objects became fashionable in Europe and resemble what is tended to associate with today’s decoupage.
Around the same time, people from the upper classes were using master painters to paint their furniture and decorate their walls and ceilings. During the 18th and 19th centuries, decoupage was popular throughout Europe. Ladies cut out pictures and pasted them onto hatboxes, wig stands, fire screens and toiletry objects.
Mary Delaney, who lived in England from 1700 to 1788 and was a confidante of King George III and Queen Charlotte, was an avid decoupeur. At the age of 71, she started producing very accurate reproductions of plants and flowers by cutting up fine tissue paper and creating "paper mosaics." Many of these can still be seen in the British Museum today.
In 19th century England, during the Victorian era, handcoloring and intricate cutting out gave way to a collage-style and people started creating Valentine cards, decorative and embossed papers and braids to embellish surfaces such as screens, lamp bases, linen boxes and mush more.
Today, decoupage is having a revival throughout the world with active guilds in America, South Africa, Australia, England and Japan.
FRANCES WARD HAS BEEN A MEMBER of the National Guild for over seven years and said, “Decoupage is alive and well and growing.” Ward has won several gold stars for items which she has entered into the yearly competitions. These items are judged and “passed” allowing members to progress from being a layman to a journeyman to a master craftsman. Ward only needs to have two more pieces passed to qualify for master craftsman status.
Ward works from a basement studio and likes decorating furniture. She also experiments with different techniques such as the mirror she decorated using paint and decoupage. She feels that anybody can do decoupage, “It’s simply a matter of taking more time and effort.”
“I enjoy the doing of it and the competition,” said Ward. She also likes teaching, which she does at the monthly meetings in Alexandria and in Baltimore. “I like introducing people to decoupage and I’m interested in making things that will become heirlooms.”
Appropriately enough, Ward’s website is called www.heirloomdecoupage.com; a video on decoupaging is available via this site.
Lorraine Bentley only joined the guild a few years ago but decided to chair the convention this year. As a result, the convention will be held in this area for this first time in almost 20 years. Last year, it was held in Tampa and Bentley has been working on the show for over a year now.
“I look forward to the idea that the guild is 30 years old. I’m honored that I could celebrate 30 years of artistry with this group,” said Bentley.
Even though she has been busy with the coordination of the event, she has still made time to make some pieces to enter in the show. “When I got frustrated, I did decoupage and calmness pervaded,” she said. She will enter several pieces in different categories.
Another local member, Beverly Hansen, has been an artist for 30 years, and has been doing decoupage professionally for the past 10 years. She will also be entering several pieces to be judged. In addition, she has made about 20 pieces for the exhibit itself — items in the exhibit will be available for purchase.
This is the first show that she’s participated in. Although she’s been doing decoupage professionally for over 10 years, she just found out about the guild last year. She was teaching a class for the Del Ray Artisans and met Lorraine Bentley, who gave her the information about the guild.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to be a part of,” she said. “I like being in touch with people who do the same thing I do.”
INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, although the basic elements of decoupage are the same, the applications are very different. While Hansen applies decoupage to furniture in the more traditional sense, she also has a niche of decoupaging invitations on plates. This has been so popular that Nordstom’s carried her line for several years. She continues to takes special orders.
Anne Leslie has chosen the art of portrait cutouts. “I started doing silhouette portraits as an off-shoot of decoupage in 1974, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Leslie believes that the most important skill in decoupage are the intricacies of cutting and design. She has been a member of the National Guild for almost 30 years. There are also two local chapters in which most guild members participate in.
The Metropolitan chapter has been around almost as long as the national group and a new Northern Virginia grew started last year. They hold their meetings one Saturday a month at the Martha Washington Library in Mount Vernon.
IT’S HARD TO KNOW how many people will attend since this is the first time that the show has been open to the public. The show, which will be held at the Holiday Inn, Old Town, will have workshops Wednesday through Saturday, and there will be a day-long exhibit on Saturday. A reception will be held Thursday evening for members and their guests and the annual meeting will be held Thursday morning (see box for complete details).