Crop:
Full image:
So much of what I see in our weathered urban surfaces has the feel of the coast. Wild waves battering rocks and foamy pools full of promise. I am not sure why this is. Perhaps the coast itself is so weathered that it reflects the erosion of paint and metal. Anyway, they are the kind of great places all ages love to explore.
What I see always seem like natural places just waiting for the addition of wildlife and by far the best that I have found are wading birds. They fit the habitat and are such a lovely distinctive shape with a good range of variation between species, perfect for my style of artwork.
Compositionally, the lower bird was an easy fit as it probes around the lapping edge of waves. However, it did not feel right by itself with too much empty space in the top right. It took a while to get the second curlew to look right. What should it be doing? Which direction should it be looking? How far away should it be? I settled on it being quite close and looking towards the lower bird to give them a connection.
The sound of curlews calling is a sound from my childhood all those years ago and it always evokes very wild places in my mind. Looking at these two I can hear their call harmonising with the water and wind.
Having seen the fence in this way whether the curlew remain or not the waves will still be crashing against those blackened rocks and the tides will still be replenishing those rock-pools. At least until this eyesore of a fence is replaced with something more acceptable to the casual passing eye.
The same coastal scene after the birds have flown:
This pair of curlew were poking around at the top of the second panel from the left:
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