Chatham Petrel

Home from the sea

A pause on land

For most of its life, this bird belongs to the open ocean. But tonight it has come home.

It rests among the coastal scrub and tussock above the shore, feathers smoothed, body settled low against the ground. Below it, waves roll in across a wide bay. Hills rise behind, soft and rounded. A single bird crosses the sky, perhaps another traveller coming in to land.

The petrel looks out over the water it knows so well. There’s a contentment in its stillness, the look of something that has travelled a very long way and finally arrived exactly where it meant to be.

There’s something in that feeling most of us know: the deep, settling quiet of coming home.

The artwork

The petrel fills the right side of the coaster, shown close up and resting low, facing left. Its head is rounded, with a hooked bill and a darker mark around the eye. The wing feathers are rendered in beautiful scalloped detail, layered one over another down its side.

On the left, coastal plants and tussock rise in the foreground. Behind, a wide bay opens out, with waves rolling in, rocks scattered across the shore, and gentle hills under a softly clouded sky. A small bird flies high above.

The close crop makes the piece feel intimate, as if you’ve crept up quietly to sit beside the bird. On warm wood with rounded corners, the soft tones give the whole scene a peaceful, end-of-day glow.