For my first piece as a member of Shawn Petite’s Creative Team I wanted to see if I could use Shawn’s stencils and collage paks to create a 3D mixed media piece! Inspired by Shawn’s product range I had a very clear idea of what it was that I wanted to do and as soon as I started looking through her wonderful collection my idea very quickly became reality. I had the stencils and supplies that I needed and was able to download the collage paks very easily and quickly and get started straight away.
Firstly I covered my mannequin head with ripped up pieces from Shawn’s Vintage Ledger and Journal Pages collage pak. I dripped a watery mixture of Buff Titanium, Titanium White, and Raw Umber over the head, and then once dry I cut out and stuck down the butterflies from the Vintage Butterfly collage pak. I covered the butterflies from The Bright Butterfly pak with sticky back paper to make them stronger and then scored gently along the inner wing so that I could lift the wings slightly. I mixed some Raw Umber to a watery consistency and dripped it from the butterfly edges to add an aged, distressed look. I used Shawn’s Butterflies and Masks stencil to create some larger butterflies and then once again covered in sticky back plastic and cut out. With a hot glue gun, I added copper craft wire to the back of the butterflies. This added strength to the butterflies and allowed me to bend the wings into shape. With my hot glue gun, I then positioned and stuck the collage butterflies around the top of the mannequin head and then I added the stenciled butterflies to the top of the head giving height and lift to my piece. I added a few more butterflies where I felt there were gaps and then bent and positioned all of the butterflies into place.
The piece is inspired by the lyrics of one of my favorite songs, True Colors, written by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg. The piece shows the courageous journey from a place of sorrow to a place of fulfillment as it is only by stepping into our greatness, by allowing our true colors to show we can really soar and flourish. This journey is depicted by the butterflies growing in color, size, and strength and eventually lifting away from the main body of work. I found so much joy in creating this piece and I hope you will too.
Supplies Used:
Shawn Petite’s Stencils: Butterflies with Masks 8×10, Let it Fly 2 8×10,
Shawn Petite’s Collage packs: Bright Butterfly downloadable collage pak, Vintage Ledger and Journal Pages collage pak, Vintage Butterfly collage pak.
Galeria Matt Medium, A polystyrene mannequin head, Daler Rowney System 3 acrylic paint:-Buff Titanium, Titanium white, Raw Umber, Phthalo Turquoise, Sticky back plastic, Copper craft wire.
I used YouTube music:-Invisible Beauty, The Beauty of love, And One Step Closer. All by Aakash Gandhi.
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Be inspired, create, and know that you are loved!
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This is such a cool project! Thank you so much for the clear and inspiring video, too. Just, wow.
Hi Ali,
Enjoyed watching your process and resulting piece. Thank you for sharing!
This put all kinds of thoughts and ideas in my mind.
Susan