Bush babies are nocturnal, enormous-eyed and about the size of a hand, and the Ardmore studio has been painting them for years. Here they are set into the canopy of an African coral tree, the lucky bean, whose pods split open to show the seeds inside, and the design catches them at the moment before a jump: ears turned, fingers gripping, entirely alert.
The observation is what lifts it above a decorative animal paper. The pods are drawn at the point of bursting, the leaves are laid in overlapping layers so the creatures are genuinely within the tree rather than in front of it, and the anatomy of the hands and ears is correct. Ardmore's habit of patterning every surface applies to the foliage as much as to the animals, so the whole design holds together as ornament.
It hangs on a half drop with a 76.2 cm repeat, which distributes the creatures across the wall and prevents them lining up in columns. On a 0.52 m roll it suits ordinary domestic drops. Good in a bedroom, a nursery that will not be outgrown quickly, a study, or a dining room where the animals become something to notice over a long evening.
