While visiting a Black-legged Kittiwake colony on a huge vertical cliff in Alaska, I was struck at how small of a ledge some of the kittiwakes would cling to, and that made me think about the precariouness of life. The kittiwake has its wings open as it tries to balance on the tiny ledge, and I purposefully put the kittiwake at the bottom of the painting to show the full weight of the cliff bearing down on its desperate attempt to hang on to life.