I Make Paper And Wood Birds By Hand-Cutting Every Feather

I Make Paper And Wood Birds By Hand-Cutting Every Feather- Zach Mclaughlin

Inspired by the beauty of birds I love to create sculptures from paper, wood and other mixed media.

I began making these sculptures a couple of years ago, the first one I made was for my own children’s book concept where a little boy makes a paper bird lantern and flies away. I couldn’t visualise how to paint it so I went about making it. I loved the process and found experimenting with new materials a real challenge and in the end hugely rewarding.

From the first bird I went on to experiment further and as with my illustration I try to recreate faithfully what I find beautiful, so I would try to create more and more realistic sculptures of birds.

More info: Etsy

I have always been inspired by the natural world and tried to capture what I find beautiful in my work

Birds are incredibly beautiful and come in so many shapes, sizes and colours that they never cease to amaze me.

Paper is incredibly versatile and as soon as I started to experiment with it I fell in love!

It translates amazingly well into feathers as it has the fragility and transparency of real feathers yet the rigidity and form needed to hold its shape.

The wood I use lends itself well to creating a solid body for the framework and paper to be added

It also makes them more robust than just made fully out of paper.

I cut every feather out by hand with my trusty pair of scissors

From the large primary flight feathers down to the teeniest of down feathers, it takes a lot of time and patience but I really do enjoy the process.

I would look at the birds I found beautiful in flight and try to think how they would work in an interior space

this lead to me making them into lights and mobiles and setting up my own online shop.

Every bird is a labour of love, from it’s conception to it’s completion, every bit of it is hand crafted and I feel a real connection to each bird I make

As I have this fascination with nature I love trying to recreate it in my own way

I take what magic there is home whilst leaving the true beauty out there to continue inspiring and growing.

Hummingbird sculpture, before it was painted

Goldfinch in bell jar with light

Paper cut hummingbird feather

Paper and wood robin sculpture