The Story of the Peacock

I grew up surrounded by animals. Living on a dairy farm means obviously there are cows, but at one time or another there were also horses, pigs, goats, dogs, cats, a variety of different birds both 'decorative' and practical such as chickens..... and there was also a family of peacocks.

The peacock himself was a creature of mystery. He simply flew into the farm one day (fully grown) and decided to stay. Feeling sorry for the lonely bird we purchased a female companion and together they raised many litters (? pretty sure that's not the right word!) of baby peafowl.

Peacocks aren't the first animal that comes to mind when you think about farms, and it was always a dichotomy of values to come across one of the beautiful discarded feathers in amongst the cow pats! Ever since that time the peacock has remained an enigma in my mind. Surely they're amongst the world's most beautiful creatures. They remind me of the intricacy and depth of the splendour of Creation.

So when I heard my sister (from Jasper Lane Designs) was doing a celebratory Facebook Showcase for her 30th birthday that features 30 of her favourite things and that one of the themes up for grabs was "birds" I knew just what I was going to do. I hand-painted and stenciled this peacock design with India Ink and then filled it in with watercolours and Glimmermist. I added detail to the body with Liquid Pearls and shimmer to the feathers with Martha Stewart glitter.

The photos don't really do it justice, and it's quite a textural piece in real life. Now I'll be sorry to see this go because it's making a lovely display on my bookcase right now, but it is up for sale in the "30 Favourite Things" Showcase tonight. It begins at 8pm (Victorian time) and I would love for you to come over and check it out. The other 29 items are pretty spectacular too!