Shanti ShantiGuruda Bird
The Garuda is a legendary bird or a bird-like creature found in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain mythology.
In Hindu he is described as a divine eagle-like sun bird, king of the birds, and is also ridden by the god Vishnu. The Garuda is generally a protector with the power to swiftly go anywhere, ever watchful, an enemy of the serpent, with powerful wings and the ability to shape shift...
This year we were commissioned to create Rama and Sita, giant lantern puppets which were paraded at this years Diwali event. However, in September last year they commissioned us to create a Guruda bird for the parade.
Clive and I have learn't so much over the last few builds, we have a good collaborative process, so that we were able to complete this in just over three weeks!
We often begin by drawing the outline of the frame to scale in chalk on the floor. This enables both of us to continue with different parts of the build and have the drawings and chalk lines for reference.
I made the wing and tail parts using bicycle rims and the feathers from foam and fiber rod which I sprayed a design onto.
All of these parts had to be created separately so that the creature could be taken apart for transportation.
Meanwhile Clive continued to work out an ingenious wing flapping mechanism using the wing pieces that I had created and we decided to take no chances -having seen a couple of wheels buckle under some weight previously - and we beefed up the rear drive wheel with steel rods!
The most challenging part was devising the drive system to the wing flap, which all had to be done within the body of the bird, whilst still being safe and leaving space for two cyclists. This took some working out. It was managed using a long shaft which took the length of the bird and some trampoline springs.
The time ran out as usual and we were left with a couple of days to complete the creature who was now known as Shanti.
The idea came to me to create a parasol cover for the pilots, so we purchased a canvas umbrella from Argos which definitely looked the part!
The surface was cling wrapped for strength and then covered in wet-strength tissue -like a large scale lantern and we air-brushed some hints of colour on too.
However, although this was an excellent finish and Shanti made a spectacular appearance at Diwali 2016, I realised that the finish was not a permanent solution; tissue and glue has a shelf life and more time was needed to create the finish I was looking for.

It was well worth it to see him in all his glory, flying around at the Walking with Giants Festival this year and then again at Diwali 2017. He has even been featured on BBC Look East!
Shanti, shanti, shanti, to you all xxx