This view from Nantu Wama Parkrun, LeFevre Tce depicts the long shafts of light and cool shadows of dusk, in the tradition of historical landscape painting. Here a magpie listens attentively–sensitive to the seasons, subtle shifts in atmospheric conditions, time of day and the possibility of dinner. In a clash of artistic styles, abstracted fragments of sky are scattered over the scene like fabric offcuts, the vibrancy of twilight a reminder of the visual potency of this small planet.

Inspired by the open space, vegetation and fresh air of the Adelaide Park Lands, humans and wildlife create their homes; birds conceive the complex geometric structure of a nest, while we have learnt to replace walls with windows, inviting light and air into our dwellings. Artists have long extolled the life-affirming qualities of a pristine natural environment, and continue to remind us of our dependence upon it.

The task of preservation now falls to us for the sake of our own futures, and the lives of other creatures naive to the predicament. In doing so, we might do well to take lessons from what the birds know.

Oil on canvas 152 × 122 cm