S W L A and the Langford Fieldsketch Award

turnstone at Evie Sands - fieldsketch

 

The Society of Wildlife Artists Annual Exhibition;  the premier exhibition of wildlife art in Britain – possibly the world.  The Society’s inaugural exhibition was held in London and opened by James Fisher in August 1964.  I first exhibited with the SWLA in 1986 and, finally this year, have been elected a full member.  They say that good things come to those that wait . . . 

pintails and wigeon - fieldsketch

 

. . . and this year I was astonished but incredibly delighted to receive the inaugural ‘Langford Field Sketch Award’.  The Award is given to “an artist who shows a fundamental understanding of the subject through their work in the field . . . for a body of work that captures the essence of the subject which has been drawn from life”.

goldcrests

 

goldcrests

 

I always joke that Autumn lasts about three hours in Orkney; the first serious blast of breeze strips any trees and shrubs of their leaves and deposits them somewhere due east of Scandinavia, yet this year we have enjoyed beautiful proper autumn days, typified by invasions of warblers – many goldcrests from the near continent and the exquisite yellow-browed from Siberia.  I spent a few sessions with these birds.

yellow-browed warbler in sycamore

 

British butterflies

 

It was also a pleasant diversion to be asked to make a small painting for a couple I know.  Butterflies occasionally feature in my work, but often they are overlooked in favour of the birds – but this was a piece I was keen to do.  As with most of my paintings, I spent a wee bit of time sketching before committing to the finished article and I was lucky to have several pages of butterfly sketches from my trip to Sark with the Artists for Nature Foundation last year.  Some of the quick watercolour sketches had a nice sense of vitality to them and I tried to keep some of that in the finished painting.

painted lady, red admiral and buddleia

 

waxwing - fieldsketch

 

waxwing - fieldsketch

 

I have a favourite bird – it’s the one I am looking at in any given moment.  But, to narrow that field down a little, it is the arctic skua.  Well, it is when they’re here, at any rate.  And when they’ve left for the Southern Hemisphere, I can look forward to greeting my other favourite birds – waxwings!  These little northern birds bring a splash of colour at the time of the year it is most needed.  Their sleek and beautiful plumage resonates against the dank and grey late autumn light; gem-like.  Nothing lifts the soul like seeing waxwings, and hearing their Christmas jingle-bell calls.  This autumn waxwings have arrived in their hundreds and I’ve spent a lot of time enjoying these delightful birds – and drawing them.  

 waxwing - fieldsketch

waxwing - fieldsketch

waxwing - fieldsketch

waxwing - fieldsketch

You Gotta Roll With It

In this summer of Olympic achievement and dreams being realised, one of my own came true!  Birds and bird-art are deeply engraved into my psyche, mainly through exposure to ‘Thorburn’s Birds’ as a four year old child – several decades ago.  Of the birds beautifully depicted in watercolour on those complex yet superbly designed colour plates, many stuck in my mind, but the one with woodpeckers on it also contained a very special bird indeed; the European Roller.  I’ve wanted to see one of these kaleidoscopic wonders ever since.

We are very lucky to live in Orkney – it’s a place of wonderful landscapes and fabulous birds and, from time to time, some unusual ones find themselves off course and on the islands.  We are also lucky in that many folk are tuned in to the wonders of the avian world and news gets circulated via our own birding grapevine ‘Orkbird’ (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Orkbird/) and a very special Orkney Rare Bird Alert texting service.

When the local quarry-owner’s wife reported that she had just nearly run-over a parrot in Finstown, it didn’t take long for the bird to be relocated and (correctly) identified as a European Roller.  The news spread like wildfire and on Friday 27^th July, I first connected with this long-awaited beauty.  I managed a brief but very satisfying view on my way to label the exhibition at the Loft Gallery (http://www.workshopandloftgallery.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=369661) and returned later that day to begin fieldwork. 

Over the next few days I spent as much time as family and work would permit (the gallery in Stromness may just have been closed a little earlier than usual) and by the time the bird finally left the site, I had a few useful colour sketches of the bird and habitat and I finally managed to bring the whole experience round full circle with a fully-fledged watercolour painting depicting this most memorable and long-awaited event. 

'The Orkney Roller'

watercolour, 27"x22"

So – a childhood dream has come true for me.  And now I can only hope this magical bird, having finally found me, can now find its way back to southern Europe and re-join its kin in warmer climes.  And a footnote to this 45-year story;  on the very same plate which Archibald Thorburn painted almost exactly 100 years ago, tucked away in the top-left corner is a wee bird which I still remain to see – lesser-spotted woodpecker.  Hmmmm – any chance one of THOSE can make it to Orkney . . . . . ?