I have been thinking of crows as I walk the dogs.  Crows are often thought  of as common and scruffy birds, almost vermin in the countryside, with rumpled ill-kept feathers and a bad attitude to other animals and birds.  I think there is something elegant and uniquely-crow about their cleverness - a thoughtfulness other birds don't seem to possess.  I like their balletic chaos, their blackness, their crafty wariness and their deliberate sense of purpose!

With these paintings I want to examine their unfussy outlines with a simple style of painting that removes them from their rather gothic and negative imagery into something more in admiration of their qualities.



Oil on canvas, 24 x 24 ins

Oil on canvas, 24 x 24 ins

Oil on canvas, 24 x 24 ins

Oil on canvas,  24 x 24 ins

Oil on canvas, 24 x 24 ins

Oil on Canvas,  48 x 36 ins

This large canvas is the title piece for the Edinburgh collection.  It's the 'pose of crow' I have spent many months trying to photograph and have worked from a composite of thoughts and photographs for this.  I wanted to capture the reptilian feet, the purposeful head, the untidiness of the feathers and the blackness of the crow against the background of the fields where it hunts for food.  But also, within this painting is the beauty and grace of its large body and wings and the shimmering purples, greys, pinks and blues of the sun on its iridescent feathers.  It's a simple painting in many ways but the impact is shifting and imposing when it is hung on the wall.