Cut-Out Cats

One day our 4-year-old said she wanted to “learn more about art”. So I checked our book Get Into Art (Animals): Discover Great Art and Create Your Own by Susie Brooks (it features different works by famous artists then suggests art projects children can do inspired by them). The first was The Snail (1953) by Henri Matisse (who was born on December 31, 1869–8 months before Maria Montessori).

So we did cut-outs. She painted sheets of paper, cut them into strips and shapes, then positioned and glued them on paper to make an image. She made two sets of cats and named her work “Cats in PAWS”. PAWS is The Philippine Animal Welfare Society which runs an animal rehabilitation shelter we visited because she said she is a “vet scientist”.

I also brought out some books from our home library–Henri Matisse: Drawing with Scissors (Smart About Art) and A Magical Day with Matisse (Mini Masters). We listened to the audio guides (for kids) from MoMA. And watched this beautiful video by Art Fund, this moving footage of Henri Matisse working on the cut-outs, and this one with his grandson Paul Matisse.