| Project Title | Time to Care |
| Location | RSPB Strumpshaw Fen Nature Reserve, Norfolk, UK |
| Dates | 23rd – 30th July 2025 |
Contextual Statement
How can art divert attention to the natural world in our immediate surroundings and to the quiet efforts made by individuals to protect it from harmful human activities?
Time to Care, explores the use of painting, drawing, and printmaking to represent the extraordinariness of the natural world present in our quotidian experiences and the labour of care by conservation volunteers.
RSPB Strumpshaw Fen nature reserve is a peaceful, watery landscape where the soothing rustle of wind through reeds is punctuated by husky base notes from bitterns, overlayed by sharp voices of ducks who become quiet and watchful when the marsh harrier calls or the otter swims lugubriously across the fen.
Situated in the Norfolk Broads, this nature reserve was the location for the Time to Care project, culminating in a series of three public events. These were presented outside, beside the fen, on three days in July when the otter was training its cub to hunt while ducks loitered at the water’s edge, and the heron watched carefully from the shadows of the opposite bank. Reeds swayed in the gentle breeze behind artworks displayed on tables draped in rough canvas which attracted ladybirds and accentuated sunlight dappled by overhanging trees.
Project Documentation
A few examples of forum comments written by visitors in response to the two forum questions:
How does this artwork make you feel?
What are your priorities for conservation?
“It makes me feel optimistic that there are people out there who give up their time for nature.
It also makes me feel that I need to go back to doing some practical conservation work as I miss getting hands-on.”
“All these volunteers who turn up on reserves regardless of weather.”
“It makes me feel joy and gratitude – I could sense soul in the work, especially in the ink.”
“I believe there needs to be engagement with a wide range of people to be fully effective.”
“My volunteering with RSPB, has made me realise how vulnerable and fragile most species in nature are due to the human activity which has contributed to the global warming and the nature general. “
“It also and more importantly made me realise the amazing and valuable work RSPB are undertaking in helping to protect and support the species and their natural surrounding also protecting the nature.”
“It makes me feel warm, it connects me to a time past. I’m happy and proud for the people depicted. A sense of strong connection.”
“To create more benfit than harm. I prioritise being on nature’s side”.
These ink drawings of nesting swifts drawing were made using streamed video from RSPB Swift Nest Live.
My usual experience of swifts is of their small, streamlined forms in spectacular flight where they appear as individuals at one with their airborne existence. It was fascinating to witness their stillness and tender togetherness in a nestbox.
As I worked from a screenshot the livestream played in the background, allowing me to hear them rustling around in their nestbox, caring for each other and their eggs.
Swift nest box installation by individuals around the country strives to counteract habitat loss and conserve this precious species at risk of disappearing.
As I took regular walks through Strumpshaw Fen nature reserve , I stopped to make watercolour sketches of this precious landscape threatened by inundations of salt water caused by rising sea levels.
The Time to Care event included a forum inviting visitors to share their views about art and about conservation, a cyanotype printmaking activity, and an exhibition of my Time to Care artwork.
The first Time to Care event fell on a rainy day, so the RSPB kindly gave me use of their welcome hut.
Fine weather on subsequent days brought Time to Care outside where reeds crowded around my oil paintings of conservation volunteers managing the reeds in winter while insects strolled boldly across the swifts’ portraits.
For further information
My Time to Care project and other artwork can also be seen on my website and on Instagram.
instagram.com/jane_crawshaw_painting/,
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