prints from the bestiary and other birds by kevin jackson home      about     return to Prints This series of decorative prints began when Mickey Raymond showed me a Fitzwilliam Musuem greeting card of a 14th Century Bestiary image described as Three small green birds.  His idea was to have an enlarged version painted on the mid rail panel of two doors leading from the dining room of his house in Tangier.  I was pleased to be recommended to him.  The enchantment of the little scene to be made large, and the placement and context of the proposed work in Mickey's rooms was an interesting challenge.  This was not a paid commission and painting the panels gave me a first insight into the beauty of these quaintly naive, ornate, miniature illustrations.  The Bestiary images are ink line, minimal colour and gold leaf on vellum or parchment paper, and it was the quality of the line that I concentrated upon in making the first etching, rendering tonal values with aquatint.  As the series has expanded, it seemed appropriate to hand colour the black and white prints and I considered the possibilities of adding a gilded element.  I have not done so as the intention isn't to attempt a reproduction and far less a facsimile of the wonderful originals.  The mosaic and sculptural images are from Pergamum and the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul.  The ornithological connection is obvious and my curiosity was aroused as to how animals, birds in this case, had been represented as decoration and artifact.