Who is Carl M. Crawford?

Carl M. Crawford is a self taught African American collage artist from Columbia, South Carolina. He creates his work with a technique he calls Collage Illusion, hand cutting slivers of magazine paper and layering them on glass. Influenced by Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and Ernie Barnes, he depicts family, community, jazz and praise dance. He was the official Congo Square poster artist for the 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

What is Collage Illusion?

Collage Illusion is Carl M. Crawford's trademarked collage technique. He cuts thin slivers of color from donated magazines with an X-Acto knife, sorts them by color and glues them in layers onto glass. From a distance the finished piece looks like a painting; up close it reveals thousands of pieces of paper, and when lit from behind it glows like stained glass. A 24 by 36 inch piece typically takes two to three months.

What is praise dance art?

Praise dance art depicts liturgical dance, a form of worship expressed through movement that is an important ministry in many African American churches. Carl M. Crawford's work shows praise dancers in motion beneath vivid spotlights, capturing the joy and devotion of the moment.

What does Praises Go Up, Blessings Come Down mean?

The phrase expresses the belief that when believers lift up praise and thanksgiving to God, blessings flow back down into their lives. Carl M. Crawford's Praises Go Up design illustrates the idea with dancers rising in worship under a blue spotlight.

What products feature Carl M. Crawford art?

Carl M. Crawford's artwork appears on wall calendars, two year pocket planners, compact pocket mirrors, cosmetic bag sets, mugs, canvas wall hangings and greeting cards through his partnership with African American Expressions, which began with the Total Praise collection in 2011. Orders over one hundred dollars ship free from our Atlanta warehouse.

Carl Crawford Art Gallery

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Carl M. Crawford paints with paper. Every leaping praise dancer, every jazz trio and every Sunday gathering in his work is built from thousands of hand cut slivers of magazine paper layered on glass, a technique he calls Collage Illusion. This gallery brings his best known designs, including Praises Go Up and Blessed and Highly Favored, to calendars, pocket planners, compact mirrors, cosmetic bags and home decor. Read More

Collage Illusion: Painting With Paper

From across the room, Crawford's work reads as a lush, richly shaded painting. Up close, every highlight and shadow turns out to be a tiny piece of paper he cut by hand with an X-Acto knife, sorted by color and glued onto glass. A single 24 by 36 inch piece takes two to three months, and his most detailed works can take a year or more. He uses donated magazines, which he calls recycling at its finest.

A self taught artist from Columbia, South Carolina, Crawford won his first art award in the fifth grade and found his direction in high school when he discovered Romare Bearden. Jacob Lawrence and Ernie Barnes shaped him too, and his grandmother, Big Mama, remains the heart of his work.

Praise Dance, Jazz and Everyday Life

Crawford works by four principles: feel, energy, movement and color. His praise dancers leap and spin beneath spotlights, arms raised and skirts flowing, completely lost in gratitude. Praises Go Up carries the message that when praises go up, blessings come down, and Blessed and Highly Favored shows two women dancing before a wall of color. Other favorites include He Restores My Soul, Daughter of the King and Be Glad and Rejoice, and his All That Jazz calendar brings the same energy to music.

An Award Winning Festival Artist

Crawford was the official Congo Square poster artist for the 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, where he also won Best in Show in 2010. He was a featured artist at the 2010 Chicago Jazz Festival, took Best in Show at the Zora Neale Hurston Festival in 2012, and was named to the Black Pages USA Top 40 Under 40 in 2014. His work has been exhibited at the Harvey B. Gantt Center in Charlotte.

In 2011 African American Expressions, the largest Black owned greeting card company in America, commissioned him to create the Total Praise collection, and he quickly became one of their top selling artists. That partnership is how his art reaches us on calendars, planners, compact mirrors, cosmetic bag sets, mugs and canvas wall hangings.

More to Explore

See more worship themed work in our praise dancer art and African American religious art collections, pick up a matching compact mirror, or browse our African American calendars and planners. You can meet the rest of our artists on the Shop by Artist page.

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