This is a detail of ‘Moths’ – my finished piece based on poplar moths locked in a fragile embrace – Based on a lucky half an hour of observations of a pair on a tree. This is a large mixed media on cotton rag paper, following lots of trial pieces, mostly watercolour and ink with rust marks and burnt holes. The rusting was more controllable than the burning, but I took precautions! I wanted to show the fragile nature of the delicate creatures that only live for a few weeks. I consider myself very lucky to have seen them. The artwork will be float-mounted in a box frame. One trial piece I used experienced some extra experimentation today (instead of throwing it away) as we took it to the beach and set light to it. I wanted to see what would happen if I let it burn out of control, but in a safe place!