This winter has felt especially long and cold – having escaped illness over the past couple of years, in 2023, the viruses came to get me! I’m now back in good health and ready for the change of season, making sure that I often step outside to appreciate the longer days. Each brings change; the murmurations in Long Marton are a wonder, there are leaping lambs in the fields, more crocuses than ever in Penrith’s St Andrew’s churchyard, purple hellebore in my garden in Dufton, and I’m getting eggs of many colours from a farm down the road. I’ve been using the eggs to bake cakes (they rose a mile high) as well as in my egg tempera recipes. These things remind me of the beauty and resilience of the natural world and when the world of humanity can seem so hopeless, I am choosing to pay nature more attention and thinking about how to embrace it. As the season gives way to spring, the signs of new life are plentiful and everything feels more possible.
In the studio, I have added more fish to ‘Dot with Smolt’ (see last month’s post for more information) the piece is now finished and I’ve also completed ‘The Lost Curlew’ which is another sculpture in my series about the mines of William Wharton. The mines were high up in the wild and remote fells of the North Pennines where in spite of, or perhaps because of, their bleakness, William felt so at home. For him, the fells above the village of Hilton where he lived, were better than anywhere else; he walked up to his hut and stayed there from Monday until Friday, existing on rabbit and brown trout often accompanied by the sound of curlew. Being in town – with its comforts and entertainment was nothing.
Curlews are on the red list of threatened birds, largely due to changes in land use, predators, and climate change. Their numbers have declined by 48% in the UK since the 1990s and populations remain unstable. William would be devasted to discover that we are now at risk of losing this iconic bird with its evocative song unless changes are made to give it a home once again on our farmlands and upland. Jaki Bell, a friend of mine has just begun a new role, working on a project to give a helping hand to local curlews. If you would like to volunteer or find out more about the project visit curlewlife.org/. The project is supported by the EU LIFE programme and partners including the Fellfoot Forward Landscape Partnership Scheme.
Follow Dawn on Instagram – @dawnhurtonartist
