The Silence Between Heartbeats

The Hare and the Fox

Created on Sycamore

Dimensions: 78cm x 48cm

My latest piece is a departure from previous work, an exploration of new possibilities. I have crossed boundaries, embraced new techniques, and introduced colour, marquetry, and even a blowtorch into the process. Using a laser cutter, I created the wildflowers and grasses in the foreground. The marquetry allowed me to cut each shape and carefully set the wildflowers into the wood. The process was painstaking and time-consuming. This is also the first piece in which I fully embraced colour, capturing the vibrant heather of the Northumberland moorlands in August.

The scene depicts rolling hills beneath a vast sky, evening sunlight brushing the heather as it sways in the breeze. In the foreground, an alert hare stands poised, ears twitching, nose quivering, locking eyes with a fox strolling nearby, a moment of intelligence, grace, and suspended time. What will happen next?  Will the fox strike, or will the hare outwit him?

This moment echoes a story I was once told about an old master and his student. Watching a fox chase a hare, the student feared the worst. The master said, “Just watch.” The fox grew tired, the hare found renewed strength, and in a beautifully orchestrated moment, the hare escaped. “How did you know?” asked the student. “The fox ran for his dinner, the hare ran for his life,” replied the master. In that instant, the student understood the deeper truths of survival, instinct, and determination.