Daru is an ancestral name for “Oak” and the linguistic root of “Druid” (Oak-Knower). It honours the Eurasian Jay’s role as the forest’s “living architect.” Through its instinctive habit of caching acorns, the Jay has been the primary propagator of oak woodlands for millennia (more so even than squirrels).
In this painting, “Daru” is depicted not merely as a bird, but as the Spirit of the Oak – the guardian who carries the future of the forest in its beak. I intend to invite the viewer to seed the Jay as the ancients did: a sacred messenger, a healer of the land, and the living bridge between the earth and the sky.
This is the seventh painting in my UK birds series.
Oils on canvas. 100cm x 80cm x 4cm
