martinzoo

The word “stencil” is derived from the French estencler meaning to sparkle. The earliest known stencil-like designs first appeared in Western China at the caves of the Thousand Buddhas. Stenciling as a decorative technique spread throughout the Far East and eventually made its way to Europe.

The French first used stencils to decorate playing cards, books, textiles and wallpapers. Often the painted decorative designs simulated brocades and tapestries. Hand stenciled wallpapers became so popular that they appeared in the finest homes all over Europe.

Colonists coming to North America in the the 18th and 19th centuries brought decorative stenciling to this part of the world. Since wall paper was so expensive, this became an affordable alternative. Colonists stenciled on anything they could, paper, wood, and ceramics. Artisans often traveled the countryside plying their trade and talent in homes, churches and public buildings. Eventually their style of decoration became synonymous with American Folk Art.

The pattern for our stencils came from our Colonial Unit cd. I cut it out for GB because with his poor small motor skills, I worried about him using an exacto knife. As you can see from the photos below, he kind of got into the stenciling. I had to remind him that the stipple technique puts the brush straight up and down with a tap, tap, tap motion. He kept angling his brush, which would cause a bit of paint bleeding under the stencil. But other than that he did pretty good.

I don’t think he’s as good as I am about being able to visualize a finished product. Because when he lifted the stencil and saw the pattern underneath, he was very surprised.

He was so impressed with his results, that he claimed it was no wonder the Colonists liked stencils so much. Now that’s a pretty little box.