Focus on Feathers
Andrew Forsythe became instilled with a passion for feather craft as a member of the Order of the Arrow, an affiliate of the Boy Scouts. A friend and mentor spent hours with him discussing the process of painting raptor feathers, the uses of natural mimics, and the multitude of reproduction projects that incorporate feathers. <P> In 1998, Andrew became a science teacher at Todd County High School in the heart of the Rosebud Reservation, where he continued his education in Lakota life and culture. The last year ther he co-taught the Traditional lakota Arts class, based on a curriculum he had written the year before. During that time, he created more items than ever and took his work to a whole new level in order to show the students some new possibilities for their work. <P><BR> While living in South Dakota he began in earnest to develop his own dyes and produce some reproduction feathers for sale. After moving back to Pennsylvania in 2004, he officially started his own business, Sioux Specialties, and began marketing feathers and other reproduction items. The impetus for producing top-quality feathers is the reproduction of historic artifacts. Feathers can be used in a variety of projects and the author put together this book to help others focus on feathers as part of their craftwork. The use of feathers as an art medium is an exciting venture that he enjoys sharing with others.