AK11 A Contract with Nature III - Puffin

Contract Only series (on indenture paper).
I acquired a small collection of Indenture documents about 4 years ago, not knowing what to do with them but hoping they could be incorporated into a piece at some point.
This exhibition has given me the perfect opportunity… the idea came with the thought that if we do not start prioritizing nature and start legally giving wildlife greater priority it will be lost. I feel we treat the planet as ‘humans first’ and nature second not understanding that there will be no humans without nature!
These documents date from around 1850 and are beautifully made and are fascinating snippets of history.
The first two pieces I made in this series, the redpoll and woodpecker, were painted and stitched
directly into the contract. The paint was used as a guide only and was easily removed as I stitched due
to the shiny surface of the paper.
The puffin was the last of this series to be made and by now I realised the limiting factors of stitching directly into the Contract paper. The puffin was always going to be the largest and most heavily stitched, so a different approach was required. I decided to paint the puffin onto a white cotton fabric and stitch it independently in a hoop. Once complete I cut him away from his backing and stitched him onto the paper, this reduced the distortion of the Indenture paper.
Puffins are small but instantly recognizable with their black and white feathers and brightly coloured bill. Their sad, comical appearance is increased by their eye-markings and bright orange legs.
However, they lose their bright beaks and orange feet after the spring breeding season. Just before winter they shed the colourful outer beak, leaving a smaller, duller-coloured beak.
Puffins are predominantly burrow-nesters using sites within short grassy tufts, often located on sloping ground above cliffs. British Puffins spend the winter at sea.
Puffins are threatened by invasive species including predators, pollution, food shortages caused by overfishing and accidentally being caught in fishing nets. They raise their single chick (or puffling) over the course of summer and return every year to the same burrow with the same mate.

Framed H 40 x W 46 cm