Most people don’t give too much attention to discarded bird feathers—and then there’s Chris Maynard. His fascination with feathers started in his early childhood, and he used it as a creative outlet in later life, crafting intricate artwork with discarded feathers.
Maynard spent most of his childhood years playing around in the woods around his home in Washington State. He spent countless hours birdwatching and discovered his creative side once he started collecting discarded bird feathers at the age of 12.
“For him, feathers represent flight, transformation, and a bridge between our present lives and our dreams. Since feathers are universal symbols of these qualities, Maynard’s art speaks to many people’s longings as well as people who revere birds,” reads the artist’s official website.
If you’re wondering if any birds were harmed in the process, don’t despair. Maynard is a conservationist at heart, and all of his feathers were obtained in an ethical way, after being naturally shed, so he’s basically upcycling them through his art and giving them a new life.
Maynard mostly uses feathers from turkeys, parrots, peacocks, and crows, from private aviaries and zoos. He exhibited his art around the world, in addition to writing a book called Feathers: Form & Function.
