Light as a Feather

While we can’t knock paper and canvas for providing artists a surface to create art on for centuries, we have to give it up for the unconventional materials. We’ve seen a whole host of amazing works of art that utilize some of the most unconventional materials imaginable, from slices of toast to pencil tips to peanut shells. After all, this is Inked and what’s more unconventional, unforgiving and unpredictable than human skin? Well, maybe hand-carving feathers can top a tattoo in this department.

Artist Chris Maynard creates stunning carvings using feathers as his main medium. According to his blog post on Bored Panda, Maynard uses feathers to represent themes of flight and transformation, creating each piece by using “eye surgery scissors, forceps, and scalpels to carve the feathers.”

Many of Maynard’s pieces link straight back to the feather’s source and he creates birds of varying sizes, from small to practically microscopic, using the feather’s delicate fibers. One of his most common designs mimics a bird on the surface of the water, using two feathers to create the illusion of a reflection.

Take a look at some of Maynard’s most intricate, delicate and delightful creations in the gallery below. Then let us know if his carefully crafted creations gave you goose bumps or ruffled your feathers in the comments section on social media.