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Wilderness Magazine
Feb 11, 2026
A fascination with feathers
A fascination with feathers
00:00
12:22
Transcript
0:01
Kia ora. It's Leigh from Wilderness Magazine and welcome to Track Chat. Today I'm chatting with Niels Meyer-Westfal, author of Feathers of Aotearoa: An Illustrated Journal.
0:16
Now Feathers of Aotearoa combines artwork with fascinating information that highlights just how extraordinary feathers are. Welcome Niels and congratulations on your beautiful book.
0:32
Oh, thank you and, uh, thanks for the opportunity to talk about my book. I really appreciate that. Thank you. Can you tell us where the idea for the book came from? Um, sure. The, so that...
0:46
I started drawing birds about, um, s- in 2008 and, um, I had a first book published in 2014, so roughly 10 years ago and, um, after the book was done I, uh, c- continued drawing birds. I couldn't help myself.
1:04
I just, um, really liked the idea of another book was slowly growing but I, I didn't want to, um, repeat the same narrative as I've done in my first book. So not just about birds.
1:17
Um, I wanted to have something different and, uh, finally came up with the idea of feathers which is a common denominator for, for all the pictures that I had done at that stage.
1:29
So I passed it to the, uh, publisher and after a few, um, backwards and forwards emails we, we established that that's a good topic and, um, and then, uh, I started
1:42
to, you know, to fill, fill in gaps and, and shape out the idea a bit more. Now in the book there are multiple feathers for each bird and where- Yeah... did the feathers themselves come from?
1:56
Um, that's the fun part, you know, is it takes a long time. If you go out and wanting to find a feather then, uh, you... that's probably not gonna work. So I,
2:07
as I started drawing birds I casually picked up feathers over the time, um, as a color reference. They're really great color reference. So I mainly work from photographs. They're not really, um...
2:19
They're not as good as they should be so they, the feathers help me to, when I sit at home, to fill the gaps and, um, get more detail which photos can't always provide and
2:30
also they're good reference for size of a bird and the coloring and, and, and just the texture. That's how it started. So I, I, I also
2:40
collecting other things like, um, pieces of wood or stones which I use as props for my pictures. I've got a, uh, w- like an object table and I place things on it and, and this helps me form ideas as well.
2:54
And once you had a bit of a body of work forming what did the process of putting the book together look like? Okay. I, I had all these pictures but I had also big gaps. So, um,
3:09
once, uh, Robbie Burton, the publisher, was happy with the feather idea I, I established a list of pictures that I had to do for, um, you know, uh, mostly feathers themselves had to be drawn up.
3:24
Um, first ones were easy because I had those feathers and then it w- as I pro- processed it was getting slimmer and slimmer. [laughs] So couldn't cover all the species, you know. I ended up with, um,
3:36
a few that I h- hadn't had enough material on and in, in fact I skipped a few birds so I just couldn't, couldn't find enough material to, um, include them into the book. So what, what you actually see is, um,
3:50
is, is the result of a fast start and then a bit of a stretch in the middle and then it fizzled out because, you know, the lack of feathers.
4:00
There, there is one feather that you mention in the book, the huia feather, uh, and I understand that someone loaned that to you. Oh, yeah. Yeah. C- um, can you tell us about that and its significance? Oh, absolutely.
4:18
So the... Probably as many people know, the huia feather was, um, quite a significant feather historically. It was, um, in the Maori culture... I don't...
4:29
I hope I'm not re- misrepresenting this thing but it was a symbol for, um, leadership and high status and, um, and today I think the huia feather represents a bit of our relationship to, um, to the natural world which is not always straightforward.
4:47
So this huia feather was, um, from a friend of mine who moved to Dubai and he couldn't take it with him so he said to me, "Listen, you can look after it while I'm away. And, um, it's from my mum
5:05
who passed away recently and her friend gave it to her, um, back in the day and used it as a bookmark." [laughs] So the, this precious feather slowly, you know, after...
5:16
And it might have been that he didn't know but it might have been that she found it here in Eastbourne because the, uh, the last huia's w- that were recorded were in this area where I just happen to live at the moment.
5:31
So, um, I'm not really sure where it came from originally but it's likely found somewhere here. Now all of your drawings in the book are rendered in colored pencil
5:43
and I'm curious what the advantages are of working in this medium. So colored pencils was, wasn't intentionally but it turned out that, um, as I was using these pencils they have defined colors-
6:00
Rather than mixing colours as you do in oil or watercolor. You, you start from scratch every time, you're mixing the colors out of few basic colors.
6:09
But these pencils, they got, um, big range, and some of these colors are, are p- pretty spot on in terms of birds. So I find myself using the same colors over and over, uh, which makes it easy, you know.
6:22
Rather than mixing the same olive green every time I draw it, um, a bellbird or a waxeyes or anything like this. I, I know exactly the, the color that that's used for.
6:34
Also, colored pencils are really easy in terms of you can leave your work and start and stop, and it doesn't affect the, the quality of the work.
6:43
You know, when you're doing oils or, uh, tempera or these colors, you are, um, locked into a, a time process.
6:51
In the book, uh, some of the drawings in particular that I was drawn to, uh, include the kiwi, and that sounds like it was a particularly elusive bird for you. Yes.
7:08
Um, it's probably the hardest one next to the kokako to find. It's... Because it's nocturnal, it hides during the day, and, um, you really have to make an effort to, to see it, and I, I did.
7:20
And I, I, I do a lot of walking and, um, the closest I ever got was, uh, to hear them at night in s- on Stewart Island, but I didn't see any. So this was... Until I, I started doing this book, I really wanted to see one.
7:36
That was the one that was missing out of all the other birds. So I went with my son, who is also quite interested in birds, to Zealandia and did the night tour, and I seen one in the beam of a torchlight.
7:47
[laughs] Actually, we saw, uh, we... six, six of them. That was a really good night apparently. Yeah. When it comes to walking, how much of your process involves walking? Oh, that's a fun part.
8:04
I think every single time, you know, when I stare at a blank piece of paper at home, ideas... You know, it just stares back at you, and I, I feel it's t- time for another walk. [laughs] And that's the fun part.
8:17
You know, it's really just going out, and short time into a walk I often come up with ideas and then see things. And, uh, sometimes I'll take pictures. But, um, it really helps to, to, to s- kick off a whole process.
8:34
You know? To, to come home and then think about something and put things together. Maybe you find something like a feather or another piece that could be useful for a picture. And, um, I couldn't do it with...
8:48
from a living room. You know? I couldn't just sit there and, and, and look at photos and, and try to put, draw something. I think the walks are essential for, for what I'm doing.
8:59
Do you think living in Wellington gives you a particular advantage as a bird artist? Uh, y- yes, it... I think it does.
9:09
Even in my own backyard I see, uh, wood pigeons and, and, uh, tuis and bellbirds and, and you don't need, need to go very far, you know, to, to see them. And, uh, which makes it... You know, it helps to observe them.
9:24
If you go out deliberately and trying to see something, it's often you come home empty-handed.
9:30
And, uh, when you live amongst them, y- you just casually pick up behavior and, and special moments that otherwise would take a long time to, to observe when you go out into the bush, you know, and, and wait or, you know, search for it.
9:47
Is there anything that we haven't talked about that you would like to talk about with regard to the book? Oh. Um, what's s- probably important to me is a-
10:00
as I've done this book and, and the last book, and I really got attached to my birds, and I feel strongly about their, um, conserv- conservation. And, and, and I see a bit the whole w- environment through their eyes.
10:17
So it's often I, I feel,
10:20
um, there's so many stretches in New Zealand which we could do better with, where we can, you know, maybe do some native planting or, um, don't cut the grass as much, or there's little things that can be done to help, uh, aid them in their fight for survival.
10:38
I'm just thinking if you would, uh, stand in some places and compare to the, those places what they would've been like 200 years ago, they're unrecognizable. And birds are so finely tuned in- in the environment.
10:54
For them it's, it's really hard. Um, so I would, would like to convey a message of, uh, t- see what you can do in your backyard, everyone, and, and maybe it's an easy thing,
11:07
which could be great and, and huge for, for birds to survive. And when it comes to the book, how do you intend for people to use it?
11:19
I hope that someone who sees the book get as much, um, joy out of it as I do when I, I look at birds and, and nature. It's often when you stop and start looking...
11:30
You know, it's really hard these days with phones and, and the quick succession of little clips and, and to really focus on something slow-moving as, as, um, things around you in a forest walk. So I would like
11:45
to think that
11:47
looking at this book might inspire someone to go out and, and, and have a look around and pick up a leaf or a feather or anything else that's interesting and slow down and just have another think about life that surrounds us and often is totally overlooked.
12:06
It is a really beautiful book, and I do encourage everyone who can to, to have a look at it and get themselves a copy. And thank you very much, Niels, for, for joining me today. Oh, thank you. Thanks for having me
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