Seattle-based artist Chris Maynard is passionate about bird feathers: he likes to use to create vivid compositions depicting all sorts of birdlife by cutting tiny shapes into real feathers, which he then pins on a canvas inside small shadowboxes. Maynard creates these delicate works of art using a scalpel, a pair of fine eye-surgery scissors and magnifying glasses, usually using the feathers of the bird that he is depicting: turkey feathers for turkeys, crow feathers for crows and so on. Most of the feathers that he uses come from bright-coloured animals that are not native in Maynard’s homeland, such as hummingbirds and peacocks. A strong advocate of wildlife conservation and legislation protecting birds, the artist likes to use only feathers that have been shed naturally by animals in private zoos and aviaries — in fact, some of the feathers in his collection once belonged to birds that are still alive! Maynard has also published a book about his work and the fascinating nature of feathers, titled ‘Feathers, Form and Function: What Feathers Are, How They Work, and Why we Find Them Alluring.’