The silken, sad, uncertain rustling | 2021

Original artwork by Sharon Field.

The silken, sad, uncertain rustling, watercolour, graphite and gouache, 14.5 x 11 cm.

There are so many grasshoppers along the roadsides and in the paddocks at certain times of the year. There are always eucalyptus leaves aplenty to find on the ground. As the leaves age and break down, they become more silken and soft, providing a gentle carpet which rustles underfoot. As the grasshoppers come to the end of their lives, they also set up a gentle rustling in the grass, no longer able to fly, but still beautiful in their silken colours.