Twig Birds

Various exhibitions have featured Pauline's life-size sculptures of birds made from twigs and other natural materials, some mounted on simple plinths, others placed in semi-realistic environments. One of the twig birds - the young raven - was chosen as one of 12 pieces of art to represent the UK at the "Bright Young Things" exhibition in Berlin, 2005. Richard Bell writes of the crows:

There's a restless dribbled inkiness to the lines in this study of crows by Huddersfield artist Pauline Gill but the image is actually a three-dimensional construction of twigs, coated in some dark earthy mixture. These are the kind of earth spirit crows that inhabit the poems of Ted Hughes. They're kin to the winged messengers who roamed the world on behalf of the one-eyed Viking god Odin; the ravens Hugin and Munin who returned every night, perched on Odin's shoulders and whispered their reports in his ears.

Ravensong

Sinister reputation,

Symbolic in witch folklore,

An arresting dark sensation

Fills us with his awe,

So brilliant those eyes that gleam,

A gifted linguistic spy,

Mythical messenger of the Gods,

Easy to see why.

The gaze denotes intelligence

And experts may agree

His clever tricks and unique sense

Has bred successfully

Aerobatic air displays,

Playful yet dramatic

Flaunting skills that can amaze,

Dynamics are emphatic.

A three-legged Chinese sun God,

As ancient tales unfold,

Wherever his golden feet trod,

The solar spots turned cold.

And magical stories of peacocks,

Whose corvid brain did lack,

In jealous rage he vainly mocks

By turning raven black.

You wonder what he's thinking,

His aura so intense,

From eyes that seem unblinking,

Elusive in presence.

So totally unaware

He creates such inspiration

And in all probability doesn't care,

For our constant admiration.

Pauline Gill