{"id":65,"date":"2015-03-10T11:21:12","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T03:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/?p=65"},"modified":"2015-03-16T13:08:27","modified_gmt":"2015-03-16T05:08:27","slug":"myths-feathers-january-19-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/?p=65","title":{"rendered":"myths & feathers"},"content":{"rendered":"

WEEK THREE – (january 19-22)<\/p>\n

I sort through my info on myths, legends and symbolism.
\nLeda, shape shifters, the ugly duckling, and figureheads all contain leads for the future. \u2028For now though, I need to get something happening in my hands as my brain is full.<\/p>\n

Thinking time has me ready to start making feathers\u2026a rather basic choice but essential choice. I need to get to know these little miracles of flight, warmth and waterproofing.
\nI have explored them in scientific detail, I’ve soaked up their form, I have caressed them up and down and also lightly pulled at those amazing barbules. Unfortunately I have no swan feathers but have been recently accumulating feathers that lie in my path.<\/p>\n

So how to translate these miracles?
\nFabric is my natural start…black fabric is obvious even though black swans have white flight feathers and their black is not jet. I start playing with black fabrics, in particular a favourite of mine a hemp silk satin – drawing on it in white to give detail.<\/p>\n

\"white<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I can also work from the other direction building up black from white fabrics.<\/p>\n

\"blog<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Feathers need a quill and shaft. The quill is only seen in individual discarded feathers but to me it is this detail that makes them little sculptures in their own right – they need to be treated as complete items. I lean towards a hard substance – porcelain –\u00a0 but rolled and fused silk organza is also a possibility.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile I\u2019m trying to find lengths and proportions of the various types of feathers that a swan has – I want to start with veracity that will allow me to loosen the design as needed.
\nIt is difficult to find any measurements but I work as best I can – making deductions from the common wing span which is generally said to be 2m x 1m. I plot this on paper pinned on the board.<\/p>\n

\"wing<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Using black cotton I trial a few ways of creating fabric feathers that would work on a wall piece, or on sculpture, or on quilts. They look boring, and I am not satisfied, but it is a start – their life will come from choices I make later.<\/p>\n

My pinterest page, Swan Study, grows daily. There are also plenty of side shoots to my exploration – other themes that fascinate me and may eventually be linked\u2026.collars, maps and armour for a start. \u2028I now have to search through my bookshelves for mapping books and my boxes of old maps whose beautiful markings fascinate me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WEEK THREE – (january 19-22) I sort through my info on myths, legends and symbolism. Leda, shape shifters, the ugly duckling, and figureheads all contain leads for the future. \u2028For now though, I need to get something happening in my hands as my brain is full. Thinking time has me ready to start making feathers\u2026a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","spay_email":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152,"href":"https:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions\/152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}