Vise 11: Dark-eyed Junco. Scratchboard, 7 x 5 in, 2007. Private Collection.
I just made delivery on “Vise 11″ above. A friend of mine, Rod http://rodmansvisuals.tripod.com/, injured himself recently and, seeing as he’d sent me a most excellent scratchboard “get well card” after my surgery a few months ago, I thought I would repay the favour with a get well card for him. He’s been working on a series of vises (you know, the metal things meant for clamping) and so I thought I’d combine one of my vices – birds – with one of his vises.
I took the reference photos at my parents farm and it occurred to me that as farms grow larger while farmers become fewer in number, wildlife is moving back into the spaces once occupied by people. Old buildings have taken on a second life sheltering birds and all sorts of small mammals: mice, squirrels, racoons.
Considering the displacment North American animals experienced when settlers first moved into the prairies, I guess the reversal is only fair. But I can’t help but feel something when I realise that the distance between my parent’s farm and their nearest neighbour has more than doubled since I was a child.
