Collection: Seagull with Cig

A seagull fills the frame staring straight at you with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. He looks tough, almost like he has a black eye, and he's clearly not happy.

People often think he's smoking. He isn't. The cigarette is backwards because he's eating it.

I came across a photograph of a dead seagull whose stomach was filled with debris, and it stayed with me. Cigarette filters are one of the many pieces of human waste that birds can mistake for food, with devastating consequences.

So this seagull isn't cool because he's smoking. He's pissed. Because he's hungry, and we've put garbage in his food.

It's one of my favorite paintings because beneath the humor, there's something very real happening.