John McEwen on a new book of The Oldie’s Bird of the Month pictures by Carry Akroyd
Bird books invariably use illustration as a guide, whether through paintings or through photographs. Carry Akroyd’s screen prints in The Oldie’s Bird of the Month column are interpretations, with bold, abstract solutions, to convey birds swooping, singing, perching and paddling. Thus the title of our new book of Oldie illustrations. As Carry is very much a landscape artist, it is always exciting to see her answer to the latest challenge of sky, land or sea, and how she captures the essence of the bird and fits it to habitat and season. The aim of my bird columns is to celebrate, amuse and inform, in that order. Where possible, poetry, quotation and personal insight take precedence, to circumvent general knowledge and indispensable Google. John Clare has pride of place as a bird poet by right. In 2024, it is hard to avoid a repetitive lament when writing of birds, with technology...
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