Have you ever wondered if wax and feathers would be great friends? How would the vibrant blues, greens and reds of the feathers look next to the warm creamy color of the wax? This combination was just too dreamy to resist. So, challenge accepted!

The first thing I had to do for this challenge was find some feathers. Luckily for me I live close to a bird sanctuary and they were willing to part with some of their amazing looking feathers. Now I had everything I needed to start experimenting, so let the fun begin!

The first thing I noticed when working with feathers is that white feathers become translucent when embedded in the wax. Because of this they are easily lost in the composition of the painting. I also discovered that feathers are very stiff so when working with them it helps to bend/break the spine of the feather a bit. Breaking the spine makes placement of the feathers much easier. After a little practice I have to say I love the look of using feathers with encaustic wax. I personally prefer the darker colored feathers and I like to use them as accents to a painting. Now that I have started using feathers, I can't wait to see what other fun natural objects I can add to my mixed media paintings!