Wood & Feather Designs: Jenny Chapple

Jenny Chapple

Wood and Feather Designs by Jenny Chapple were born out of a vision to bring a piece of the wild and beautiful nature of Africa into the home.

'My feather art was created in Zambia purely by chance in 2017. It started with a collection of guineafowl feathers collected while walking the dogs and riding the horses around the farm. Unable to walk past one of these beautiful feathers without picking it up, I sat at home in the arts and crafts room and turned them into an elephant for my friend’s birthday gift. It was inspired by other silhouette art I’d seen,’ Jenny reveals.

Writer: Esnala Banda Photography: Easthood Entertainment

style silhouettes made entirely from feathers; this collection is still growing and developing through self-teaching and trial and error.

‘My love for art has developed different ways to cut the silhouettes to give more definition and the use of different feathers to bring a more life-like appeal. I have always had a love for wild and wacky taxidermy, fur and feather, and this is my way to give that real-life aspect in a different form. All images are based on photos taken by me, or from customers for bespoke personal designs.’

She continues, ‘Each piece is hand drawn, cut and created whilst also using the occasional watercolour or acrylic. The original and most striking feather used (in my opinion) is guineafowl, a groundnesting bird found throughout Africa. Other feathers used for my work include francolin, ostrich, marabou stork, dove and ibis, to name a few.’ Jenny discloses that she has plans to print some of the artworks digitally so as to transfer them to everyday household items such as fabrics, mugs and crockery and is very eager to work with local pottery or fabric producers.

One of her most sought-after pieces is her depiction of wild dogs, which uses a mixture of francolin, guineafowl and chicken feathers. Using a mix of feathers brings the image to life, as the brown chicken feathers used together with the black and white speckled guineafowl feathers call to mind the irregularly patterned fur of the wild dogs.

After numerous expressions of growing interest from friends and family, Jenny applied for the Zambia Art and Designs Show (ZADS) in 2018.

ZADS is the biggest showcasing event in the art and design industry in Zambia. Each year Zambian artists and high-end craft producers exhibit under canvas everything from T-shirts to handmade glassware, furniture, jewellery and fashion, as well as hand-painted textiles, leather luggage and pottery. ZADS is the single best opportunity to see and buy the very best of Zambia’s quality products. And at ZADS, Jenny won Most Innovative New Product prize in a competition sponsored by Private Enterprise Programme Zambia (PEPZ). The prize consisted of a trophy designed and crafted in Zambia, a cash prize of ZMW 10,000, as well as a professional photo shoot of the collection with a double-page spread in a leading Zambian magazine.

PEPZ works with, and through, the private sector to design and implement sustainable business solutions to the big and complex issues that hold back economic development. PEPZ invests in the craft sector as there is a large global market in handicrafts, with routes to markets that have worked for other African countries such as Mali, Senegal, Kenya and Morocco.

‘Some of the benefits of going to ZADS are that I got more interest in my art from local people. It also helped me gain more confidence and I’m using the platform to get more people involved.’

Jenny explains that she relies mostly on word of mouth to market her work, and that there are a lot of repeated interest orders as people often come back for bespoke presents which she can create to suit every occasion.

Currently, Wood and Feather Designs are a one-woman show although Jenny is looking to expand, and she teaches local helpers on the farm how to ‘prep’ feathers as they are eager to learn.

Depending on the size and intricacy of the design, a piece of artwork can take about three to four hours. She first prepares the feathers to make sure they’re clean. Then the feathers are cut to the right size as bulky, stalky feathers don’t stick well on paper. Jenny then draws the desired picture in pencil on paper then uses a sandwich effect to layer the feathers down into that shape with card.

Jenny also experiments with up-cycling objects that are especially local to Zambia such as mbaulas (braziers), turning them into tripod lamps as she nurtures her interest in interior design.

‘Every year I am proud to contribute my art towards the Conservation Lower Zambezi charity for local artists, and money raised goes towards the poacher prevention and wildlife protection units of the Lower Zambezi,’ she adds.

Jenny Chapple is a graduate of Harper Adams University with a degree in Animal Health and Welfare and has over five years’ experience in the veterinary pharmaceutical industry.

The trademark of the collection is the depiction of African animals or countrystyle silhouettes made entirely from feathers