Living in Snowdonia this most cheeky and acrobatic of the crow family is a relatively regular sight. Chough breed in the disused Penrhyn Quarry near my home, and their distinctive and onomatopoeic cry has escorted me on many a dog walk. A few years ago I had the privilege of working a day with Tony Cross ringing Chough chicks in some of his monitored nest-boxes on Anglesey

It took me a while to decide what pose I wanted for a glass Chough. They fly as if they are taking such joy in the air, buoyant and adventurous; but static images don’t generally convey that sense of happy-go-lucky dancing-on-the-wind I was looking for. This piece is made from a stunning photograph by the very talented Ben Porter of Bardsey.

I have kept some of the lightness of the original image by leaving the outer primaries part-foiled so the raw glass edges are exposed and transparent. Glass: OGT Spectrum Baroque black/clear, Bullseye streaky black/clear and OGT Spectrum Baroque grey/clear with feet and bill an old piece of Spectrum scarlet. Feet and eye painted with Pebeo 160 glass paints, and eye overlaid with a smoky quartz cabochon.