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I Make Paper And Wood Birds By Hand-Cutting Every Feather
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I Make Paper And Wood Birds By Hand-Cutting Every Feather

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Inspired by the beauty of birds I love to create sculptures from paper, wood and other mixed media.

I began making these sculptures a couple of years ago, the first one I made was for my own children’s book concept where a little boy makes a paper bird lantern and flies away. I couldn’t visualise how to paint it so I went about making it. I loved the process and found experimenting with new materials a real challenge and in the end hugely rewarding.

From the first bird I went on to experiment further and as with my illustration I try to recreate faithfully what I find beautiful, so I would try to create more and more realistic sculptures of birds.

More info: Etsy

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    I have always been inspired by the natural world and tried to capture what I find beautiful in my work

    Birds are incredibly beautiful and come in so many shapes, sizes and colours that they never cease to amaze me.

    Paper is incredibly versatile and as soon as I started to experiment with it I fell in love!

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    It translates amazingly well into feathers as it has the fragility and transparency of real feathers yet the rigidity and form needed to hold its shape.

    The wood I use lends itself well to creating a solid body for the framework and paper to be added

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    It also makes them more robust than just made fully out of paper.

    I cut every feather out by hand with my trusty pair of scissors

    From the large primary flight feathers down to the teeniest of down feathers, it takes a lot of time and patience but I really do enjoy the process.

    I would look at the birds I found beautiful in flight and try to think how they would work in an interior space

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    this lead to me making them into lights and mobiles and setting up my own online shop.

    Every bird is a labour of love, from it’s conception to it’s completion, every bit of it is hand crafted and I feel a real connection to each bird I make

    As I have this fascination with nature I love trying to recreate it in my own way

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    I take what magic there is home whilst leaving the true beauty out there to continue inspiring and growing.

    Hummingbird sculpture, before it was painted

    Goldfinch in bell jar with light

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    Paper cut hummingbird feather

    Paper and wood robin sculpture

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    All of these birds and more are available on Etsy

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    Zack Mclaughlin

    Zack Mclaughlin

    Author, Community member

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    I have always loved creating things, be it a drawing, painting or 3d model making. My inspiration always comes from the natural world as I really do have a childlike sense of wonder and awe for everything that nature creates. As I have this fascination with nature I love trying to recreate it in my own way so I can take what magic there is home whilst leaving the true beauty out there to continue inspiring and growing.

    Read less »
    Zack Mclaughlin

    Zack Mclaughlin

    Author, Community member

    I have always loved creating things, be it a drawing, painting or 3d model making. My inspiration always comes from the natural world as I really do have a childlike sense of wonder and awe for everything that nature creates. As I have this fascination with nature I love trying to recreate it in my own way so I can take what magic there is home whilst leaving the true beauty out there to continue inspiring and growing.

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    VickiCaplan
    Community Member
    9 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Nature is your muse <3 Love all your amazing, outstanding most beautiful works of paper art. I'm an paper cutting addict myself since age 4 yrs and I'm now 63 yrs young. <3 Mini Mico Art <3 I have a 14 x 18 inch portrait of John Lennon all done in micro mini tiny pieces of paper all in hundreds of various shades of green. I used only one 8 inch surgical tweezer and one surgeons extremely sharp scissors - Oh yes, I still have on my wall without any glass.I want people to go up very close and see the paper and no one can believe how it did it. All from a distance believe its a painting, watercolor etc <3 Vicki / Los Angeles, CA - USA

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    VickiCaplan
    Community Member
    9 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Nature is your muse <3 Love all your amazing, outstanding most beautiful works of paper art. I'm an paper cutting addict myself since age 4 yrs and I'm now 63 yrs young. <3 Mini Mico Art <3 I have a 14 x 18 inch portrait of John Lennon all done in micro mini tiny pieces of paper all in hundreds of various shades of green. I used only one 8 inch surgical tweezer and one surgeons extremely sharp scissors - Oh yes, I still have on my wall without any glass.I want people to go up very close and see the paper and no one can believe how it did it. All from a distance believe its a painting, watercolor etc <3 Vicki / Los Angeles, CA - USA

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