Wielewaal die een nest bouwt in een boom c. 1870 - 1940

Adolphe Burdet captured this image of an oriole building a nest in a tree, but when? The image's composition is intriguing, as though the camera and therefore the artist, is lurking amongst the leaves, observing a moment of creation. I feel like Burdet is asking us to think about nature's own artistic process. The placement of twigs and the weaving together of different materials—it’s an act of construction not unlike putting paint to canvas. What was Burdet thinking as he framed this shot? Was he struck by the bird's ingenuity, by its dedication to building a home? Perhaps he saw a reflection of his own creative process in the bird's meticulous work, recognizing that both artist and bird engage in a similar dance of intuition and skill. It's a reminder that creativity exists all around us, and sometimes, the most profound inspiration can be found in the simplest of acts, or creatures.