Feather hunting on a cursed island!

Aug 21, 20166 min read

Deviation Actions

Published: Aug 21, 2016

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Like many of you who like my work and take interest in it know, I live in the beautiful country of Croatia. My hometown Dubrovnik is under UNESCO's protection as one of the worlds special historical and cultural heritage sites. But as glorious as it might sound, to me there is a place I find even more beautiful and it's only 15 minutes away from the Old Town (as Dubrovnik is localy known as). I'm talking about the amazing island of Lokrum.

Lokrum is protected as state's reservate of nature and is a home of many lovely animals but most notably peacocks and (as of recently) bunnies. Peacocks were brought to Lokrum a long time ago and have been it's loyal residents ever since. Nobody is allowed to live on the island and the only structures you can find there are an ancient monastery, island keepers house (that serves as a small tourist information centre today) and an old fort. Each of these have their own rich and intriguing history (like an old legend that says monks who used to live there cursed the island so that no one can posses it, or they will end horribly) but I don't want to waste a lot of space on that. If you are interested in reading more about Lokrum and it's history, the internet is filled with fun articles.

Animals of Lokrum are very tamed and sometimes they approach you on their own initiative when looking for food. Since they have an entire island to themselves they breed like crazy so you can literaly see bunnies and peacocks everywhere you turn.

Since bunnies are a bit timid, they tend to keep their distance (unless you got some nice food for 'em) but peacocks are crazy rude at times! They will take your sandwich from your very hands because they do not care at all about good manners.

However, if you are lucky enough, you will be rewarded for your tasty treat with their incredibly beautiful feathers. Peacocks shed their feathers onto the ground, whether naturaly or due to a fight with another peacock (this often happens over some bread crumbs, I have seen this with my very own eyes and found it quite amusing) and even though majority of the birds are female (peacock girls are all grey with tiny bit of blue and green around their necks), sometimes you can find majestic male peacock feathers. These are the famous bright blue, golden and green feathers with an "eye" on top and these are not so common to find as female grey ones.

Many tourist take them home as a souvenir and it's not uncommon to see people walking around the Old Town with peacock feather sticking out of their backpacks. Hunting for peacock feathers is nice because you can find many different types and sizes, some are evenly colored, some have dots and patterns and some are pure treasure with their deep saturated colors and large dimensions!

The reason I am talking about all of this is because I want you to get a sense of natural processes that lead to me getting these feathers. Please don't think I am chasing peacocks and plucking their feathers from their bodies because, help me God, these crazy peacocks would tear me apart and also no one is allowed to harm these animals for any reason. Firemen stationed at the island are always on the lookout for anything that harms the nature and are often seen driving around in their buggies

When I use these feathers I cut the lower (grey) part of the feather and use only the radiant colorful one. Even though the feathers are found clean, I wash them in soap and medicinal alcohol before I put them in pretty tiny glass vials.

I then decorate vials in polymer clay, I sculpt very tiny details by hand. (This is why I wear glasses! xD)

Every necklace is 100% unique and can't be replicated. This is crafted by hand without any molds and therefor can't be made again exactly the same. Quite honestly, I wouldn't like to re-create an identical piece because I'm always giving a promise of a one of a kind treasure to my buyers and also, it is very boring for me to make same things. So, I can re-create things in a similar style but never identical.

Necklaces are for sale here and here and I would very much love to know what you think of them. They are such fun to create and I love the story behind them as the place they are from is truly magical. I am hoping to expand my offer of vials in the next few months as I am too much in love with how tiny and special these are.

Thank you for reading this journal and feel free to check me out on other social media as well!