What is the Peacock Room? There is quite an infamous history behind this room, but it is considered a masterpiece of interior decorative art by James McNeill Whistler and Thomas Jekyll. Originally designed in London, this room was at one point disassembled and sent across the Atlantic. It now resides in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC.

But what makes this room so memorable for any who see it, is the opulence of it all. It is in shades of blue and teal with an outrageous amount of gold leafing. It's known as the peacock room because of two fighting peacocks that reside as the centerpiece of one of the walls. This room is so famous and storied, that composer Eric Ewazen wrote a piece for flute quartet entitled, "Harmony in Blue and Gold." Its 4 movements highlight the art and story behind the creation of this room. 

My flute quartet is currently working on this piece and so when I saw the new Black Gold Metallique Wax from Finnabair, I knew I had to create a panel in blue and gold using this wax. Now the Black Gold Wax isn't the same as the Opal Magic waxes. In order to get the black undertones of the wax, you need to apply it over white. If you apply it over black, you'll only get the gold tones, which is nice, but just not as magical!

But I did want to mimic the deeper tones of the peacock room. So in order to get that depth and shadow, this piece required both black and white gesso.

To start, I applied Finn's Modeling Paste through the new Manor House stencil. Once it was dry, I painted the entire canvas and all of the moulds with Heavy Black Gesso. For this project, I used the Watercolor Floral Mould as well as the Sharon Ziv Tree Branches Mould. 

After the Black Gesso was dry, I then dry brushed the canvas and moulds with the Heavy White Gesso. Dry brushing the White Gesso over the Black Gesso does create a bit of a blue coloration to it, which you can really see in the canvas and some of the moulds. 

Before glueing everything down on the canvas, I applied the Black Gold Metallique Wax to the moulds and spots around the canvas. Then I applied touches of the new Honey Metallique Wax to the centers of the flower moulds. 

Then I glued all the moulds, sisal fibers, and a couple of Blue Lagoon paper flowers from Bohemian Heart onto the canvas with hot glue. To help me layer the elements, I used bits of cardboard box to keep everything level. 

For a finishing touch, I added a few Say It In Crystals I had leftover from the Cigar Box Secrets collection. And that's it! This project reminds me a bit of an orchid plant, where the flowers and leaves almost seem suspended from the woody stem. Until next time, happy crafting!

Adrienne

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Below are products that I used for this project.

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