Koke Pendant

My mom has a beautiful little Meyers parrot named Koke. He's an adorable little mimic with beautiful plumage that ranges in color from dark grey and aquamarine to vibrant yellow and teal. She has been collecting his discarded feathers for a while now, and has sent boxes and boxes of the lovely downy quills to me.



I'd been pondering just what to do with these little treasures, when my mom asked if I would make her a pendant box with his feathers. Brilliant! I've been at work trimming, shaping, and curling the little buggers, trying to make an arrangement inside of a tiny box.



I have to say this has become one of my favorite boxes. The photo's just do not do it justice. I usually use lightly tinted book pages as backgrounds, but the delicate feathers were lost against the print on the paper. I ended up putting a wash of rich black gesso over the paper, which made the vibrant greens and blues of the feathers pop. Darkening the back ground gave it a dramatic, elegant feel. Combined with sparkling silver watch parts and twinkling rhinestones, it brings to mind a fan of peacock plumes a victorian heiress might have brought to a gala masquerade ball.



Koke's name is formed on the back with clipped print, and underlined by one of his bright yellow feathers, trimmed to perfection.



The necklace is finished off with sterling silver chain and wire wrapped deep blue peacock pearls. I'll be sorry to see this one go!



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