The Art of Stenciling

September 1st, 2008

Is stenciling dead?

Despite the fact that some of my favorite stencil companies have gone out of business, and that an organization founded to promote the art of stenciling has chosen to remove any mention of stenciling from both its name and its mission statement (how’s that for irony?), I have to say no.

Thousands of times a day people search for stencils on stencilsearch.com, and decorative artists continue to tell me how they are using stenciling in their profession. The stencil is a timeless tool that can be used by artists and hobbyists of all skill levels to create simple motifs or complicated theorems. You can even use them for scrapbooking!

The art of stenciling has been around for centuries, and it’s not going to disappear any time soon. It continues to change and evolve and to be interpreted in new ways by a multitude of talented artists. In upcoming blog posts I will be highlighting some of these artists and showcasing the techniques they are using to carry on this ancient art form.

For information on the long (and often colorful!) history of stenciling, visit these sites:

• Royal Design Studio
• STENCILING: A VERY SHORT HISTORY OF A VERY LONG TRADITION
• The History of Stenciling

Entry Filed under: Stenciling