Whistler, the Peacock

My peacock, Whistler, was a masterpiece who graced our garden until I got every penny for him he was worth. The planning sketches were surprisingly sketchy.
After one of our trips to the Freer Museum in Washington, DC, I knew I wanted to make a peacock. The 19th century industrialist, Charles Freer, collected works by Whistler and Thayer, and amassed a huge collection of Oriental art. Freer bought Whistler's "Peacock Room" in its entirety from fellow industrialist Alfred Leyland and had it re assembled in the museum he gave to the nation. Anybody who has read a biography of James Abbott Mcneil Whistler knowshow well the image of a peacock suited him. CLICK ON PHOTOS TO SEE ENLARGEMENTS AND DETAILS.




The body is from an old freon air conditioning gas tank; the tail is old electric motor parts, bottle caps, and spoons. The head is a piece of cut pipe, th beak a bent nail, and the little yellow eyes, plastic dolls' eyes.
The wings along his sides are halves of an old shovel, covered with motor parts an old garden trowels. The neck, is the neck of the old shovel--it curved at the perfect angle. The base of the tail is an old masonery saw, cut and covered with electric motor parts.
The legs are from springs used on farm tractors and the little yellow claws are made from old nails. He is painted with sign painters' enamels.