AK10 A Contract with Nature II - Redpoll

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.
This tiny finch, with its red poll and tiny beak is only slightly bigger than a blue tit. It has recently been 'split' from the common (or mealy) redpoll, a larger and paler species which is a winter visitor to Britain.
A bird of the garden and moorland edge, the Lesser Redpoll is the smallest and darkest of the redpoll family. In years when its favoured alder, birch, and larch seed crops fail, British Lesser redpolls will move in large numbers, even leaving the UK in search of trees in which the seeds have flourished, whilst in good crop years they will only move short distances.

Framed H 36.5 x W 36 cm