During the pandemic part of our routine would be to go for a walk or a bike ride locally.
Newton Abbot Quay is a beautiful spot by the river Teign where an industrial area meets a nature reserve.
Under normal circumstances is my 'go too' place to feel at peace and clear my head. With what has happened it has become even more important to me and my family. We go to feed the birds, play games and have a picnic on the benches on a daily basis.
Today during lockdown, the 'gift within the heartache,' is that I have been forced to slow down and appreciate these wonderful places that are within a few minutes walk of our home, to really observe and record whats going on around me.
Here my youngest son Jasper, is busy feeding the pigeons. He is twisting his body in all directions, stretching and rubbing his hands together to let the crumbs fall for the birds.
I am always amazed at the various, precarious looking postures children get themselves into!
This simple act of sharing food like this with wildlife is something I was bought up with. It brings back my own treasured memories with my parents. I have often observed very young children here feeding the birds. Accidentally (not!) dropping bits of food over the side of a pram. This instinct to share, this curiosity of other species, is something I choose to nurture with my own children. I feel it is very important they realise they need to look after more than just themselves in this life.
In the painting I have captured a moment as one of the pigeons took flight at the exact moment Jasper threw his hands forwards. I really felt that this was a moment of strong connection between the two of them.
Shadows and strong directional light play a significant part in my paintings.
I am always looking at how these shadows connect people, places and objects to a moment, a place in time.
Here, I was attracted by the dark contrasting tones of the industrial units in the background, I feel that this has a grounding element in this painting. The tree line starts to soften this. The mobile cafe is just visible to the back right hand side, adding intrigue as to what is happening 'off' of the canvass.
The picnic bench an everyday feature of our lives these days. Shadows of the bench converge and mingle with the pigeons, their shadows in turn connect with Jasper.