This Is Whidbey author Kate Poss and photographer David Welton published a feature article about wood artist Pat McVay and prominently described the installation process for the recent expansion of Icarus Was Here at the Sculpture Forest. “A Shower Of Feathers” is an entertaining read about the fun and inventive artist Pat. Kate includes Pat’s personality, his thought process about Icarus Was Here, and even talks about some of the trials and tribulations that occurred while installing such a large scale sculpture.

“Floating Icarus’ one-of-a-kind feathers on suspended stainless steel cables is a work in finesse.

Arborist Jesse Brighten visited the park in early March, adding cable to the trees, which later supported mobile-like hanging cedar feathers 60 feet up into the canopy. Jesse used a slingshot with fishing weights to shoot ropes over a branch. Next up were nylon slings to protect the branches, followed by the cable and the feathers.

‘I love working with Pat because he adapts as he goes to make his art become the best it can possibly be,’ Scott said. ‘He does not just show up with something and assume it is done. He evaluates it and then returns afterwards to improve upon it. Pat told me, ‘I need to fill the space even better from different viewpoints to seem more scaled to the huge open forest.’

Pat adds, ‘I had to come back with more and more feathers all the time because it was such a huge space to fit into nature…'”

Thank you, Kate, David, Pat, Ken, Bob, Jesse, and Joe!