Avocet

Acrylic on paper, 25cm x 35cm

This was painted in situ at the RSPB’s new Wallasea Island Reserve on the Essex Marshes. It was a hot June afternoon and this avocet was taking a break from feeding. I wanted to convey that sense of brilliant sunshine sparkling off the water, filling the shadows with light. Dead thistles, casualties of the recent flooding of the lagoon, provide upright contrasts to the horizontal bands of mud and water.