For about 5 months I have been working on a piece I have been calling Silent Witnesses - Birds. It was inspired by the birds that hang out on the beach watching humans romp. I wanted to use them as a metaphor for all the wildlife out there being affected by human proliferation. I spent hours drawing the composition, stitching the textural background and harboring a desire to make it a strong statement.

This work in progress shot shows the structure of the composition — I've added the no entry symbol with Photoshop. It's represents how I feel about the whole thing.

And it failed. Miserably.

The only piece I liked about this composition was this little bird tied up with thread.

So last week I cut it up with the faith that if I cut the damn thing up I might find the answer to what went wrong. Was it too literal? Too centered? Too boring? Too black and white?

Yes it was.

So now I have about eight pieces of textured fabric with scraps of meaning left. They'll be jumping off points for new thoughts, relieving me of the burden of seeing the piece day after day taunting me to resolve it. Resolve it I did. And it was a good day.