Cardinal sin – Clare Toms

This is the cardinal sin of Clare Toms.

Well, she didn’t commit a cardinal sin (we hope) but she is certainly invoking one in us with this picture – or maybe even a few…

Apart from being beautiful, the picture has a double (or triple if you count the cardinal birds separately) dose of bones.  In the skeletal reflections of the birds you can see, amongst other things, some cute little cervical vertebrae, and the large sternum characteristic of bird skeletons.  You can also see their cute little birdy skulls, complete with beaks – the avian version of a mandible (jaw).

The human skull – who has a set of chompers that many of us still alive would be jealous of – has a few foramen and some awesome detail in the nasal cavity.  The bit we like best though is his very detailed nasofrontal suture.  Joining the nasal and frontal bones (hence the name!), it has that craggy-ness that makes the skull look real.

So the picture has certainly invoked envy because we want the picture but don’t have it, lust because we love it and greed because we want more of her work.  The good news is that it is for sale!  This painting is at the Copro gallery and there are some prints available on Clare’s website.   Be quick before we buy them all though!