Open edition with printed signature. Paper size 306 x 297 mm. Image size 250 x 250 mm
I’ve always loved the comical, colourful look of puffins and as they are affectionately known as the ‘clowns of the sea’, it seemed quite natural to call this painting ‘The Circus’. Other collective names for these delightful little birds are a ‘colony (on land), a ‘whirl’ in the air and a ‘raft’ when they’re on the sea. They’ve also been called a ‘puffinry’, a ‘burrow’ and an ‘improbability’ of puffins!
I once took a boat trip to the island of Staffa on the west coast of Scotland and while I was sitting on the grass on the top of the island I was amazed to find that the puffins walked right up to me, so close that I could almost touch them! The skipper of the boat told me that it was because people provided protection for the puffins from the gulls which would attack and kill them. They felt safe in the close proximity of human beings and the gulls left them alone.
Although puffins have brightly coloured bills in the summer, they change colour throughout the year. They are very impressive swimmers, diving deep to fill their bills with sandeels and other small fish to take back to their nests in burrows in the ground. They are loyal birds and very rarely do they change mates during their lives.
Needless to say, I have been greatly inspired to paint puffins and this print is one of a number of prints published from my puffin paintings.
