Cuckoo in an ash tree, in an Italian hand-carved and water-gilded 19th century free-standing frame

CUCKOO on an ash tree branch,

presented in a 18th Century hand-carved and water-gilded Italian tabernacle frame

signed (lower right, on a leaf), and further signed and inscribed on the reverse:

On 29 July, I was sitting in bed, watching the mist climbing up from the valley, when a mature cuckoo fledgling landed the ash tree outside my window. It perched for a few minutes, sporadically being fed by a meadow pipit, which arrived with a giant worm. For the next few days I could hear it mimicking the pipets, and often saw it on nearby trees and fences, being looked after by its adopted parents. This work is inspired by what I saw, and the branches and leaves depicted taken from the tree. The cuckoo arrived at Pen on 27 April this year.

underglaze pencils on earthenware