A Different Kind of Wall Hanging
I was recently commissioned by my friend, Vanessa to make a custom wall hanging for her. She wanted something large and horizontal to hang over her bed and she gave me rough measurements of the ideal piece: 58” wide and 30” tall and to incorporate some gold to compliment the gold pendant lighting on either side of her bed. I was up for the challenge!
Though I’ve made this type of wall hanging before (horizontal on a stick), I’ve never made one this large and with so many feathers. I started looking for sticks that I thought would be great to work with, something fairly straight, not too curved and sturdy enough to hold the weight of the cord and feathers. I was excited to find a great stick so quickly while on a walk with my sister. I took it home and whittled it and sanded it. I noticed it was rather hollow inside and looked like some artifacts where inside. I washed it and continued to sand it hoping I could dry it out. Days went by and still some ugly gunk inside that I feared would turn into creepy bugs that would land on Vanessa’s head while she slept! So I tossed that stick and started all over in my search.
My brother-in-law, Jim, also was searching for a perfect stick to make a walking stick and he had his eye on the branch that belonged to the neighbors house but was on their side of the yard, so I convinced him to let me have it. He cut it down for me and what do you know, it’s the perfect length, roughly 60 inches wide and straight and sturdy enough. Perfecto, I was in business! I again went to my whittling and sanding and the stick was looking smooth and pretty. I let it dry before getting to the cord.
I did some calculations and came back with needing 6 rolls of 50 yards of light cord. Boy did I underestimate that one! Once I started adding it, I needed 6 additional rolls, making it 12 rolls of 50 yard cord. What a doozy! But I continued to work on it, noticing it was becoming an angled dreamcatcher, which I really liked. When I hung it up, I noticed it was not an even slant, so I cut the bottom to exaggerate the slant. Once it was exactly how I wanted it, it was time for the feathers.
I didn’t add the feathers to every single bit of cord (that would’ve been too much), but I added a lot in, all across the bottom, both tan colored feathers and white gold-tipped feathers. When I showed Vanessa my progress, she wanted more feathers, so I continued to add more and in layers so the dreamcatcher is more filled in from the middle. I added about 4 layers up and this was finished to me. I showed Vanessa and again she wanted more feathers but I had to argue against it. I told her it was quite impressive in person and it didn’t need any more. She relented and this baby was a wrap! I packed and shipped off to Dallas and was a bit nervous of her reaction when she received it. I was so nervous she wouldn’t like it and would be disappointed.
Boy was I wrong! She received it was was blown away! She absolutely loves it and gushed about how beautiful it is and how her room is complete. That made me so happy and I’m so honored to create a custom piece for my friend.
Check out the photos of its evolution.
