Blue Jay and Birch was painted in winter and inspired by a winter palette: white, charcoal, tans and subtle oranges, blue. The underpainting incorporates the Fibonacci sequence as a spiral of squared off shapes. The white translucent spiral emerges out of the centre of the Fibonacci sequence and it is as though the Birch and Bluejay emerge from the spiral. Or, rather, the birch stands like a sentinel, and honorific mother witnessing the birth of the Blue Jay. The one floating feather represents impermanence and entropy; all of us and the entire universe are moving towards decay and disorder and rebirth. This last thing is what the Blue Jay represents. The Bluejay is also a flash of joy a little bit of the big blue sky. Especially on the grey days of winter that seem colorless, but aren't really, the Blue Jays are a gift. In the same way our brief precious life is a gift.

The hexagon motif is repeated throughout this series of paintings and represents the patterning of life: resilient and prolific.

Who really knows where all of this life emerges from? A glimpse of Life’s pattern really undercuts all the petty and unnecessary antics of the ego and its need to know and convince others that it knows.