Bird in a Forest by David Michie (1928-2015) captures a view through a dense group of tall trees, with only their trunks visible, and in the distance among a patch of solid yellow paint is a brown bird, hidden partially behind a tree's trunk. The majority of the work is in tones of grey and light brown, as Michie used thick, vertical strokes of paint to make up the trunks and surrounding landscape. This draws the eye to the bright yellow patch on the left side, where the bird is slightly hiding, giving the sense of Michie trying to guide the viewer in a hunt. 

Much of Michie's work focuses on vibrant use of colour, present here with the way Michie employs the bright yellow colour to draw in the eye. Michie spoke of the inspiration for this work specifically in reference to an experience in Australia: 'I was walking in a grove of trees in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales and was struck by the pattern of the trees and the stillness. A bird flitted about, disappeared and reappeared. The wood was silent. I wished to use the formality that the design suggested. I also had in mind giving the painting the title: Nature.'

David Michie OBE RSA, 1928-2015

The youngest of the three sons of Anne Redpath, David Michie was born in St Raphael in the South of France. He returned to Scotland with his mother and brothers in 1934 and was brought up in Hawick, Roxburghshire. His studies at Edinburgh College of Art from 1946 to 1953 were interrupted by two years' National Service in the Royal Artillery. The award of the college's Senior Travelling Scholarship allowed him to paint in Italy in 1953 for a year. Michie taught drawing and painting at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen from 1958 to 1962, when he joined the teaching staff of Edinburgh College of Art. He was Vice-Principal from 1974 to 1977, and Head of the School of Drawing and Painting from 1982 until his retirement in 1990. He held a Personal Chair at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh from 1988 until 1991, when he was created Professor Emeritus. He was then Visiting Professor to the Art Studio Department of the University of California in Santa Barbara.