She had me with the Peacock - Gwen Lafleur Studio's First Blog Hop

Hi Everyone.

So glad that you are here for the second day of the Gwen Lafleur Studio Artist Tribe's Blog Hop. If you're just jumping in be sure to follow the links at the end of this post and get to know my talented Artist Tribe Sisters.  You'll also find instructions there on how to to enter to win a prize from Gwen's web shop.  

But before we get to that, let me tell you just a little bit about myself.  I live in Eastern Connecticut with my very supportive husband of six years and our two dogs.  Thanks to my Mom, I've been crafty for most of my life, but I only recently found art journaling and mixed media about two years ago.   Apparently I was bit by a bug that left me just slightly obsessed with art supplies, vintage paper, and rusty metal objects.

Although I have a pretty demanding full time job sandwiched in between an hour long commute to work each way, I always manage to fit in some creative time to play in my art journal every day.  In fact, it's not unusual to see the glow of my Ottlight beaming from my craft room window at 3 am, much to the consternation of my six year old rescued pup, Penny Lane.  Apparently, my new schedule is in direct conflict with her's and she's not shy about letting me know it.  You see, Penny likes to go to bed early, but she also won't got to bed without me.  This predicament leads to some rather interesting and entertaining late night grumbling on her part, especially since she sounds just like Scooby Doo!

So what does this have to do with Peacocks?  The point is that I have a tendency to become rather fixated on some things, (or so I'm told...). One of those things has been Gwen's Ornamental Peacock stencil.  This stencil has been there from the beginning for me.  It was actually one of the first stencils that I had purchased since stenciling my hallway with a FolkArt stencil back in the 80's, (and I'll bet that a few of you reading this post have the same folkArt stencil somewhere on one of  your walls).  The Peacock has become one of my favorites.  He's an old friend that I never tire of staying up late into the night talking to.  And I'm not the least bit ashamed! 

 

My very first peacock was perched on a canvas bathmat.

Then I employed him to Move Mountains in my art journal.

I perched a pair on my art supply cabinet doors, (a happy thrift shop find!)

Next I immortalized him in Shrinky Dink Plastic and then mounted him on a collage of encaustic mono prints.

He ferociously guarded his territory on a manilla tag. 

And the traveled across the USA in the cover of my Round Robin Art Journal.  (He's actually on his second national tour right now.)

He looks pretty good in my art journal "encausticized" in wax.

He does take a lot of abuse though; this time I burned him out of Lutradur

Silly Peacock. He tried to blend in with the background, but he couldn't hid long from me...

And earlier this week I found him perched in a tree overlooking an ancient Asian Shrine and contemplating Gwen's recent trip to India.

  

For this last piece I worked on an 11" x 14" birch panel.  I started by collaging old book text onto the base of the panel.  I penciled in the outlines of the Ornamental Peacock and the Branching Blossom Silhouette stencils, (see links in the list below for all stencils) onto medium weight Lutradur, cut them out with a wood burning tool, and then painted them with Golden Fluid Acrylic paints.  While they were drying, I stenciled the shrine directly onto the panel with Gwen's Art Deco Borders stencils and the background with her Decorative Curvy Ornamental and Ornamental Compass stencils.  I adhered my Peacock and "Tree" to the panel with YES! Paste and then applied several coats of Golden Fluid Acrylic paint mixed with Glazing Liquid over the top of the entire panel.  Colors were then enhanced with colored pencils and Treasure Gold wax gilt.

I used these stencils designed by Gwen in this piece:

• Ornamental Peacock Stencil and Mask
• Art Deco Borders Stencil
• Art Deco Sunburst Background Stencil
• Decorative Curvy Ornamental Stencil
• Ornamental Compass Stencil

Other StencilGirl Stencils Used:

• Branching Blossom Silhuette by Cecilia Swatton 

Being on Gwen's Artist Tribe is a dream come true for me.  But to be honest with you, I've always been on Gwen's Team.  She had me with the Peacock!

Thanks for visiting with me today.  And now onto the Blog Hop and Giveaway! 

Blog Hop Posts to Visit:
Gwen Lafleur
Jackie P, Neal
Lynda Shoup
Sandee Setliff
Linda Edkins Wyatt
Jill McDowell(You are here)

One lucky winner will receive $20 Gift Card to the Shop at Gwen Lafleur Studios! All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on any or all of the blog posts during the hop - the more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to win! (One comment per person per blog please.)

You have until Sunday, October 1st at 11:59pm mountain time to leave your comments. The winner will be announced on the Gwen Lafleur Studios Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/GwenLafleurStudios) on Monday, October 2nd.  Good luck!