I Use Eye Surgery Scissors And Scalpels To Carve Feathers Into Intricate Art

This art is made of real feathers. Each piece is backed to make it sturdy but what you see is the actual feather, unchanged, uncolored. To retain the natural curves of the feathers, they are set apart from the white backgrounds using stainless pins. This creates shadows depending on the direction and quality of light that shines on it.

I am often asked if I use lasers to cut my feathers. I don't because I prefer the intimacy of making each cut with tiny surgical scalpels and scissors.

Birds shed their feathers about every year and grow new ones. Using shed feathers in my art means that often the bird that shed them is still alive. Life is harsh, we all die and we have to kill things in order to eat, to live. Feathers represent a bit of gentleness amidst the suffering. I feel that one way to cope with the harshness of life is to add a little humor which you can see in a few of my pieces.

Feathers also represent flight, something we can do with our bodies only in our dreams. So they become important symbols of hope and transformation. More images of my work are best seen at the Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe, NM. The prices of artworks start at $1200. I am grateful that my art has found a soft spot in people's hearts around the world.

Click on the first picture to start the slideshow...

http://www.featherfolio.com/ shadow-boxes/

Thanks Sylvia