Announcing... The Artist Tribe at Gwen Lafleur Studios!

I am so incredibly excited to announce The Artist Tribe! The first creative team for Gwen Lafleur Studios! I'd thought about whether or not to do this for months, and finally decided to go for it. I started with one member, then opened up a call to grow the team, and I was seriously blown away by the response! I wasn't expecting to get very many applications, so I was shocked at how many came in and how much talent I had to choose from! In the end, I had to make some difficult decisions... I really wish I could have found a way to make the team bigger, but I ended up choosing a few people who felt like the best fit for my stencil designs and shop products.

That said, without further ado... I present the Artist Tribe!

Let's get to know these talented ladies, shall we?

I'll start with my friend Jill McDowell - she just had to be a member of the team...

I've said more than once that she uses my stencils better than I do, and her artwork is diverse and totally incredible! Here are just a few samples of her work...

First, a beautiful textile collage that she did as a member of StencilClub Voices (you can see my Ornamental Petals Screen stencil peeking through the background!)

Second, Jill makes these super cool Infinity Books - art journals where the pages flip to reveal different spreads. I haven't wrapped my brain around making these, but I love to look at them!

Next, I'd like to introduce Linda Edkins Wyatt!

Linda is a trained surface and textile designer (she even has a Tommy Award under her belt!) and has immersed herself in art quilting and mixed media since discovering them about eleven years ago. Her work has appeared in multiple publications, including a fabulous book I just got - Mixed Media Self Portraits by Cate Coulacos Prato.

Check out her beautiful art journal spread about her inner warrior princess:

And this... sigh... I'm absolutely enamored of the textile work that she does! This is from an art quilt called "The Eye of Panic."

Next, a big welcome to Lynda Shoup!

Lynda spent some time studying art in college before earning a degree in Communications and eventually a Masters in Library Science, and she also lived in Japan for ten years where she worked as a copy editor for Japan Publications Trading Company in the Japanese traditional crafts division. She translated three books The Joy of Flower Arranging, Rice Bowl Recipes and The Joy of Antique Beading. How cool is that?

I love the way Lynda uses monoprints in her work - check out this creative project where she used a few of them to make origami boxes!

I also love her writing style, her art journaling, and check out these amazing hand-bound "mood books" that Lynda made from upcycled magazines!

Next, I'm pleased to share that Sandee Setliff is joining the Tribe!

I know Sandee from the StencilGirl creative team and I was thrilled that she was interested in joining the Artist Tribe as well! Sandee is quite a talented artist... she draws beautifully, and I love her sense of exploration and the diversity of techniques and mediums that she uses in her art.

Don't just take my word for it on her drawing skills, check out this beautiful watercolor sketch she did!

And with this one, see what I mean about variety? This is one of Sandee's most recent pieces - a gorgeous mixed media canvas!

Last but definitely not least, I'm excited to introduce Jackie Neal!

Versatility in techniques and mediums seems to be the theme for the Artist Tribe, and Jackie is no exception to the rule! She combines color, layers, and textures to create beautifully detailed artwork - everything from mixed media panels to art journaling to ATCs to assemblage.

Here you can see lots of gorgeous layers of texture - the more you look, the more you can see how many details went into making this stunning piece, and of course we all know that I'm a sucker for any kind of heat embossing in mixed media!

Of course, my jaw literally dropped when I saw this masterpiece! A gorgeous Marie Antoinette shrine!

Whew... are you as excited as I am? I absolutely cannot wait to see what these talented ladies do with my stencils and the products from my shop, and I hope you're excited too! I know that whatever it is, it's going to be totally fabulous!

Make sure you're following my Facebook page and signed up for my newsletter to keep up with all of the happenings with the shop and The Artist Tribe! Of course, you'll also want to be sure to follow all of the new members of the Artist Tribe - you can get all of their blog links above (click their names in the introductions,) and blogs and all social media links are also on my website.

5 Comments

I am so honored to be a part of your creative tribe Gwen. You have been a constant source of inspiration for me and I'm so excited for this opportunity. Go Team!

Posted by: Jill McDowell | August 15, 2017 at 11:40 AM