Having investigated the beauty and complexity and our recent understanding of the interactions between pollinating insects and flowers, my eyes have been opened to the complexity and diversity of ecosystems around us.
As soon as I met Honey Kohan, and Martin Harper both from Birdlife International and Lisa Lang from “The powerhouse group” from Creative Economics Forum in Brussels, I knew life would get amazing!!
From our discussions I knew I would need to learn very fast about birds so I could fulfil my promise to produce a new artwork for Birdlife International; such an honour. It felt like speed dating, as I needed to see birds in their habitats as well as work from some amazing images so I could create a new artwork within weeks. The team at wildfowl and wetlands trust in Slimbridge were amazing, as were my local nature reserve were on numerous occasions I went at Twilight to hear the Cuckoo and see the Reed warbler being annually hoodwinked. I read Rebirding nearly 3 times and finally got to meet my hero, the extraordinary clear writer Benedict Macdonald; he even said nice kind things about my work, thank you, I hope to meet him again! A highlight of the birding calendar is the Birdfair annually held in Rutland. We invested in a glorious set of binoculars, (with a diagonal back strap that protects the neck when walking for miles.) It now feels there is so much to learn at this perilous time for birds. It was tragic being in touch with wonderful Dave Leech, who is head of ringing and nest recording for the British trust for ornithology, he explained how busy he was with Avian Influenza, a tragic state which is currently threatening winter migrant birds. I finally managed to pull together an image which included as many birds of particular significance and stories at this point. At the end of July I went to the Curwen Print Study Centre to print up eight versions of the print and then was in full on painting mode for a month, just finishing the work in time to be framed and ultimately exhibited.
For Birdlife