I am a bird nerd. I hold this title proudly. I love the opportunity to create a piece to showcase these majestic and hardworking creatures, especially if I can make it oversized.

This work is a celebration of the Cedar Waxwing, a truly dazzling bird – in song, in flight, in tenacity – perched atop its nest of found objects and hand-cut metal. Cedar Waxwings can make thousands of visits to a nest when building it, flying one piece of material back at a time, conscientiously tucking each snip and strand into a perfectly-formed bowl. I felt a little like a Cedar Waxwing when constructing this piece: each time I laid a piece of metal, or snuggled a found 2D item into the branches, I was already onto thinking about the next piece. Where in the shop had I stashed it? What did I need to add next to keep the structure and shape and composition correct? Back and forth and back and forth to my bins of salvaged scrap. Snip snip. Tuck tuck. A nest for this hardworking little creature took shape.

I hope your experience of this work is as joyful as mine, and that it helps bring out your inner bird nerd, too.