
The Current Of The Silver Sea
Watercolour, collage and mixed media on paper
110 x 110 cm

This major, signature piece is a celebration and a contemplation on the interlinked ecology of the Tay Estuary an the further seas beyond. Overfishing, pollution and other human impacts collapsed the salmon fishery and the other, plentiful species of sea life in the estuary - including the beloved dolphins which regularly followed the ferries across the river - a place I have known well since childhood and where I have long settled my studio on the wave-lapped shore in Fife. Precariously, the waters have been restored to some measure of health and with that little encouragement, the bottlenose dolphins have returned and their numbers are growing every year. The complex ecosystem of the estuary is facing many threats, but, joyously, there is a story of hope and renewal, and it arrives with leaping hearts and leaping dolphins on the silver currents of the river.