More than a decade ago, local retiree and hobby painter Lin Taylor came across a new form of artwork that would change the way she paints forever.
“We travelled the world and had been to Costa Rica and South America where we saw paintings on feathers. They were dreamcatchers and earrings so that was my inspiration.”
Lin says in that part of the world people have painted on feathers for centuries. They search nearby landscapes for feathers left behind by native birds and use those feathers “as a canvas.”
On returning home, Lin couldn’t help but bring that Latin painting style with her and has used it to celebrate the birds local to Yorkshire on feather-canvasses ever since.
Whether depictions of beloved robins or larger birds like the barn owl pictured above, the paintings have proved immensely popular. Lin says, “I do some other painting as well but my birds on feathers are just flying off the wall. Last week I sold 55 in just five days!”
Just like the South American artists that inspired her, Lin’s work begins with whatever feathers she can find while out foraging.
“My friend up the road had some silky macaw feathers [a South American bird] so my first painting was on a macaw, but I’ve since found that all sorts of things like pigeons are great for painting on.”
After cleaning and spraying the feathers, giving them time to be decontaminated; Lin soon gets to work transforming each one into a celebration of British wildlife.
“I never paint the same bird as the feather I’m using” Lin adds, this is because it’s important that the acrylic colours contrast and work with the feather’s natural shades “rather than blending away into it.”
In this way, the feather itself becomes central to the direction of Lin’s work. Unlike something completely separate to the bird, like the rigidity of a traditional canvas, “the feathers become a link to the bird” and a link to the natural world where the bird lives and thrives.
Using something so natural allows the unkemptness of the wild world to flow directly into her creations. “The shape of the feather and of the stem dictates exactly how I can paint the bird on to it.”
When pressed on her favourite bird to paint, Lin says, “It’s the Kingfisher. We live on a lake and when the river’s up they come and sit on our decking. Not everybody’s seen a Kingfisher, so people tend to buy one just to get a glimpse!”
In the summer you’re likely to see Lin exhibiting her work at York River Art Market, along Judy Dench Walk, if you’d like to see some of her work before then though, make sure to visit www.Facebook.com/LinTaylorArt.
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