Birds of Paradise

I have 2 entries in the annual Hodgson Loom Competition. This year the theme is air. I have taken the quote from the Gospel of Matthew which starts-All the birds of the air.
I did research on different types of Birds of Paradise and other exotic birds and did sketches of them, see one of them below. I made a felted background using bought merino and Nepalese wool in varying shades of blue to represent different layers of the atmosphere. I then hand stitched each bird with tiny stitches using a beading needle and stranded cotton. Finally I did Kantha stich all over the background to give a sense of movement. A photo of the finished work is shown below along with a few individual birds.

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