The arrival of summer (Cuckoo)

Contemporary Bird Painting Cuckoo

The arrival of summer £1260 (Cuckoo)  

I heard my first cuckoo of the year on the 2nd of May, he was marking the arrival of summer Bissoe, Cornwall, where I live and have my art studio.

This painting explores the cuckoo as both a bird and a seasonal presence within the landscape. Sweeping pale forms echo tree roots, estuary lines and coastal vegetation, creating an interconnected composition where land, air and movement merge together. The muted palette of greens, creams and blues is interrupted by vivid red-orange leaves, suggesting new growth and the brief intensity of early summer.

Rather than depicting the bird naturalistically, the cuckoo is integrated into an intuitive, semi-abstract landscape inspired by Cornwall. Its appearance feels transient, glimpsed in motion before disappearing again,  reflecting the bird’s short stay in Britain each year.

Painted in acrylic on board, the work balances observation with atmosphere, combining references to local landscape, migration and seasonal change.

The cuckoo is currently on the Red List for conservation, having declined by 65% since 1980 in the UK. Each year, it undertakes an extraordinary migration of around 10,000 miles to spend the winter in the Congo rainforest of central Africa. Cuckoos migrating along a westerly route through Spain face higher mortality due to recent drought conditions. In the UK, they are present only briefly, sometimes for as little as six weeks, arriving in mid to late April and departing as early as June or July. This work reflects the cuckoo’s enduring symbolism in folklore and its cultural significance as a herald of summer — its call traditionally marking the arrival, or “birth”, of the season.

Acrylic on board Framed 87 cm x 62 cm