Fair Feathered Friends

I have two parrots, Neelix and Kes (yes, my StarTrek geekiness is showing). The first is a normal cockatiel male, the second is a blue-headed Pionus parrot female. They have lived with us for over 15 years. Parrots typically molt (shed old feathers to make room for new) several times a year. I'm blessed with beautiful gray and white (Neelix) and mostly green (Kes).

She also has magnificent tail feathers that are tri-color, blue, red and green. I especially watch for these on the cage bottom, not only because they are so unusual, but because I've wanted to do something polymer-related with them for some time.

This is Kes, visiting the studio. 

You can just see the red portion of her tail feathers.

Last week, she also gifted me with some tiny, delicate mostly red feathers that I knew would be wonderful layered with the tri-color. So, making sure that I had both "right" and "left" pieces (they are actually a bolder color on the "front"), I constructed a layered polymer base of navy blue, red center and green, textured back. With custom sterling earwires and findings, these earrings practically made themselves!

Feathered Earrings No. 156

In the next couple of months, watch as I also pay homage to Neelix's plumage with some classic gray and white (and maybe a bold surprise thrown in ;-)