I chose to base my art piece around a phenomena that my mum, (the most resilient person I know) often talked to me about during my childhood. The drawing shows Canada geese in their migration path, a migration that requires connectedness from every bird in the formation in order to complete the migration. As one bird flaps its wings, a rolling vortex of air rolls off each of its wingtips and some of this air is pushed upwards and some downwards. (1) If another bird flies into this air, it can be carried by the air with minimal expenditure of energy. 1 This means that birds with lower resilience at any point in time can be carried by more resilient birds. This also means that in order to complete the migration path each bird is dependent upon all the other birds in the formation.
I also chose to create a piece involving nature, as nature has often been a coping mechanism for my mum and myself at particularly difficult or stressful points in our lives. A walk in the fields or a day in the fresh air will often relieve me of many of my stresses and worries so I can understand why initiatives such as ‘Green Care’ have been developed in Bristol to help connect patients with outdoor spaces.

1.Yong E. Not Exactly Rocket Science Blog – Birds that fly in V formation use an amazing trick (online). Available from: http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/01/15/birds-that-fly-in-a-v-formation-use-an-amazing-trick/