Preparing Feathers To Paint On.

by | Jul 5, 2019 | feather paintings | 66 comments

Feather cleaning step 3

I’m often asked about my feather paintings. I’d say the top 3 questions I’m asked are ‘What made you paint on feathers?’, ‘How on earth do you do that?’ and ‘Where do you get your feathers from?’

If you know me or you’ve met me, you’ll know the answers, but for those of you who don’t, here’s a little insight into the 3rd and 4th questions…. I know, I only wrote 3, but the 4th always follows the 3rd and is… ‘what do you do to clean them?’

Every day, I go for a walk with my little dog, Chilli. We take a variety of routes across fields, along the coast, through woodland, over hills, down valleys… and more often than not, we find feathers! I pick them all up and pop them into the back pocket of my ‘bum-bag’ which I wear as it holds all the essentials needed for dog walking.

Its only a slim pocket, but you’d be amazed how many feathers fit in. Once every couple of months, I empty the pocket and the preparation process begins.

Step 1  Remove feathers from bum-bag and place in a plastic bag (which I reuse over and over again!) tie up the bag, squeezing out as much air as possible and place in the deep freeze for at least 48 hours. This will kill any mini beasties which may be living in the feathers.

Feather cleaning step 1 Feather cleaning step 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2  Remove bag of feathers from the freezer and empty into a sink of warm, soapy water (I use shampoo because feathers are essentially the same as our hair) Give them a good swish around then pick them out of the water and squeeze out excess water.

Feather cleaning step 3

Step 3  Drain the dirty soapy water, rinse the sink and re fill with clean, like warm water. Replace the soapy feathers into the clean water and swish around to rinse out the soap.

Step 4  This is the time consuming bit…but worth the effort! One at a time remove the feathers by the quill end, and when you have several in your hand, squeeze out excess water, then place the feathers on a towel to drain. Repeat this until all feathers are out of the water. I usually start with the biggest and work my way to the smallest.

Feather cleaning step 4

Step 5  Now all the wet feathers are lined up in the towel, they can be wrapped and rolled and squeezed inside the towel to absorb excess moisture.

Step 6  At this point, the feathers can be laid out to dry on a dry towel (on a sunny day with no breeze!!) or they can  be blown dry using a hairdryer. Which ever you choose, remember, the slightest breeze (or blast from a hairdryer will send feathers floating in all directions…!!!

 

Feather cleaning step 5

Step 7  Dry feathers can be sorted (colour/size/species-ish) and carefully placed into airtight containers. I use ziplock food bags as they can be reused over and over again.

Step 8  Label the bags. I tend to label with the date and either ‘Frozen and Washed’ or Frozen, not washed’ or ‘washed not frozen’. When I’m lucky to receive a parcel of feathers in the post, I try to remember to write who sent them to me. Sometimes , if I’ve found a special feather, I’ll write that on the label too eg, ‘Jay Feather, Cadbury Hill’.

Ta Dah! Now you know!

Happy Feather Hunting!

 

 

66 Comments

  1. Virginia Huntley
    Virginia Huntley on 6th July 2019 at 4:18 am

    Thanks for sharing Mandi. Very interesting and a little or a lot time consuming. BUT well worth it !

    Reply
    • Mandi
      Mandi on 6th July 2019 at 11:06 pm

      Your’re welcome Ginny, thanks for reading and leaving your comment! 🙂

      Reply
    • Mandi
      Mandi on 6th July 2019 at 11:05 pm

      There are some here on my website, either in ‘collections’ or in the shop. I’m on facebook http://www.facebook.com/wildwithpaintbrushes and I’m on Instagram @mandibm. Lots of photos on all these sites.
      I’ll be exhibiting at The Exhibition of Wildlife Art, The Gordale Centre, Near Chester, Wirral at the end of July, and at Southern Nature Art Exhibition, Rookesbury Events, Wickham Hants August Bank holiday weekend. More info can be found on my ‘Events’ Page on my website.
      Thanks for looking.

      Reply
  3. Mike Orriss
    Mike Orriss on 27th July 2019 at 12:40 pm

    Hi Mandi, I am Mike Orriss and I spoke to you at Gordale today about Calligraphy on feathers and gilding also. Can you recommend a supplier of feathers?. Will they be ready treated, and are there any special pre -treatments required. Enjoyed seeing your work and discussing the processes. Thank you, Mike Orriss.

    Reply
    • Mandi
      Mandi on 28th July 2019 at 9:35 pm

      Hi Mike,
      thanks for getting in touch, it was lovely chatting to you at the exhibition. As I said, I pick up feathers that I find on my walks, so I don’t have a supplier as such. I recently read about another feather artist who sources her feathers from a milliners supplier, so you could try that. I guess they may be treated, but if not, you can read my blog post about how I clean and prepare my feathers. (Freeze them, the wash and dry them.)
      Good luck, and have fun experimenting!
      Mandi.

      Reply
  4. Pat Di Folco
    Pat Di Folco on 18th February 2020 at 8:10 am

    Morning Mandi! I love the website and I feel honoured that you came to Yatton WI and gave us a talk, demonstrating your fantastic talent! I’ll share your website with our members? They still talk about “the lovely feather lady”.

    Reply
    • Mandi
      Mandi on 18th February 2020 at 9:14 am

      Thank you so much for visiting the website Pat, please do share with the WI members. It was my pleasure to give the talk, I enjoyed it very much!

      Reply
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