Playing around with Paper

What do tissue paper, old maps, and newspapers have in common? You can make art out of them.

Tissue paper is fun because you can layer one color on top of another, creating new shades. Remember to create background, and play around with various sizes and shapes of the tissue paper. Try cutting and tearing - what works best for you? And don't be timid about decorating your tissue paper. Check out how this artist decorates hers with markers before creating her collage.

Maps, newspapers, pages torn from old books and ancient encyclopedias create interesting backgrounds. Puzzle pieces and stamps add interest. Here's how one artist makes maps into art.

The cool thing about collage art is that materials are all around. Save tissue paper from gifts, and stamps from letters and post cards. You can pick up old encyclopedias and dictionaries - even music books - at library book sales and garage sales. For glue - just water down school glue a bit.

 This is National Arts in Education week. Check Sally's posts every day this week for arts activities and book reviews.