The wonderful thing about PR is tracking down interesting stories, and this week I have found a gem!

Yorkshire artist Michael Kusz has a rather unique corvid studio assistant, and if you pay a visit to his studio during the forthcoming North Yorkshire Open Studios  you may be lucky enough to meet his feathered apprentice who features in many of his artworks.  Jo the Crow was kicked out of the nest as a chick and adopted by Michael who had looked after an injured crow in the past so had some familiarity with them – but wasn’t expecting anything quite so tame, friendly and downright mischievous!

He explains: “Crows are monogamous, they’ll bond with one other in particular and this can be a problem in a relationship as your partner is seen as a threat. They say the best thing you can do is introduce them to a lot of people so here at the studio it’s ideal for him with people calling in all the time (many revisiting just to see Jo!).” 

“Jo loves to ‘help’ and I describe him as my apprentice but he is an agent of entropy attempting to reduce everything to beak-shaped snowflakes! He has stashes everywhere and knows where all the ‘treasures’ are. If he gets a chance to nick one, he’s off! and if you haven’t noticed then he’ll parade it in front of you until you do notice and then the chase is on as it’s obviously much more fun than a pretend chase.”

Michael Kusz’ unique sculptures are made from recycled materials, mainly copper with many of them featuring Jo the Crow! His Dales studio (Reeth) will be opened up to visitors this June when he takes part in North Yorkshire Open Studios, definitely a date for the diary!

The North Yorkshire Open Studios is on 2 weekends 1st & 2nd June and 8th & 9th June 2019 visit www.nyos.org.uk for details of the 101 artist studios.