“Crucifixion forms one of a body of avian watercolours begun during Covid, where most of those specimens falling foul of either window or vehicle strike. The knock-on effect of such deaths is intriguing and give rise to many questions, not least the effect caused, albeit accidentally, to breeding populations. Studying and committing these birds to paper asks the question of devastating human actions on a wider global scale; small incidents that amount to vast issues for our indigenous bird species.

”As a subject, the barn owl came to me, thanks to my father, a volunteer for the RSPB in the UK, who had collected it from a local curbside, its beauty and ghostly presence gone.

”In seeking to represent each species — removing them from their natural surroundings and focusing on composition — I attempt to create an abstract image, while allowing the opportunity to really look at something we are rarely presented with. My intention is to show how vulnerable, delicate, and humbly beautiful each bird is, irrespective of its public canon or garden profile.

“Having initially trained in oils at a young age, and graduating from Art School with Honors in 1984, my watercolours embrace many of those formative habits, while attempting to push its wider perception. I have remained true to the medium for the past 43 years and employ a limited number of application tools, from sharpened brush handles to Rosemary and Co. No. 6 sable brushes.”