Christmas Card from Helen and Dick Bishop 

Curator: This intimate print greets us with the simple message: “Merry Christmas from Helen and Dick Bishop." It appears to be an etching, maybe an engraving, created by Richard Evett Bishop. What do you make of this Christmas greeting? Editor: It strikes me as starkly beautiful, in a somber kind of way. The muted palette focuses all attention on the precisely rendered forms of those birds, but it feels cold and lonely. Curator: The image centres on a skein of ducks cutting across a misty landscape. It’s an example of realism and perfectly in keeping with Bishop's other celebrated works of wildlife art, even the medium speaks to its cultural memory. Printmaking was a deeply democratic medium for centuries, conveying messages directly into people’s homes, particularly as affordable illustrations. Editor: You’re right. I was too hasty. There’s also an understated elegance in that composition – a simple horizontal landscape providing the foundation for the dynamic upward sweep of the waterfowl. The scene is rendered with delicate skill, while the etched line mimics a brisk chill in the air, a northern climate and wintering species perhaps. The lack of sentimentality makes it rather honest, I'd say. This wasn't a commercial product, so it really puts one in touch with a specific aesthetic tied to the couple’s identities and values. Curator: Certainly. The symbol of waterfowl is multilayered across cultures and time. Migration is one obvious symbolic pathway, but consider that, to some, the image of ducks implies the soul’s journey, while the precision Bishop employs highlights humankind's appreciation for the natural world, seeking perhaps to enshrine it as cultural knowledge. There’s almost an ecological sentiment here. Editor: Interesting thought, particularly when presented as a token of affection during a seasonal celebration. Its directness challenges what one expects from holiday greetings. It resists manufactured emotions. It's a message, from them to their circle, perhaps suggesting where their values lie. That stark landscape says so much. Curator: In retrospect, there is a poignancy, seeing this scene – perhaps one familiar to them personally – immortalized as a gesture of annual renewal. It becomes a powerful reminder of what endures: the natural world. Editor: I see it now. It carries so much with so little – more affecting than any elaborate display.