MADE TO ORDER, please allow for time to make this piece. Custom orders available please just email me at zack@paperandwood.co.uk

This paper Hoopoe is completely hand made from scratch and so there will be a slight waiting time on each piece after ordered. A Hoopoe in a bell jar will take around 85 hours to complete, customisation available, please just ask.

The entire Hoopoe is made by hand and mainly paper. The underbody is made from wire armature with a paper skin onto which the beak, eyes and legs are made from epoxy clay, all the details modelled by hand.

The wings are mounted on wire wing arms that are fully pose-able and to add as much movement as possible to the sculpture.

The tail and flight feathers on the wings are made to the correct proportions and shape, made from Zack’s own drawings in which he draws out every feather as a blueprint for the bird. Along each main flight feather there is a length of copper wire to add strength and poise to each feather. The wings are constructed as well as the tail and attached to the body.

Next is the lengthy task of cutting all the other feathers on the body with scissors, adding texture with said scissors too before gluing each individual one in place, layering them up, from tail right up to the beak.

All the painting is done with acrylic paints and a series of very small detail brushes to add as much life to the sculpture as possible. Zack is obsessed with the details. Gloss varnish is added to the eyes for that life-like shine, so the piece really feels alive.

Lastly a hole is drilled in the birds lower back which is then used to mount onto wire which attaches to the light bulb fitting within the bell jar. Positioned as if in flight over the bulb. The bulb is a low wattage Edison bulb, the low wattage means it never gets hot, just very slightly warm, meaning the little Hoopoe is all safe and well inside its bell jar. The cord is 3 core fabric with a cord switch installed.

The bell jar stands at 49cm tall and 26cm wide. The Hoopoe inside is 50% life size and has a wingspan of 24cm or 9.4 inches.