NEST Competition - Finished Front Cover

Here is the finished front cover for the NEST magazine competition that I entered. Rather than go for a more conceptual representation of the word 'nest' I have chosen to create a more literal representation that both connotes and denotes what the word 'nest' means to me.

I really enjoyed designing this cover, even though the short amount of time made it quite a hard deadline to work to I'm still quite pleased with the finishing results.
The picture itself is what it is, two artistic peacocks sitting in a big purple lettuce nest. The scene itself is surrounded by tropical, high humidity plants. I chose these flowers and plants to suggest that a nest is a place of warmth, a delicate place that is special to each individual person. However the cooler colours of the nest itself and the peacocks inside of the nest also suggest that a nest is a place to relax, to wind down and chill out and to avoid the heat and bustle of the outside world.

I think the problem with this piece is that because I have drawn it I know exactly what each piece of the work is meant to represent yet  I haven't actually shown what I want others what I want it to be represented at through my work. Because of the guess work involved for others trying to work out what the piece actually means I don't think that it will be approved in the competition, however I do think it will still be enjoyable to look at and just generally appreciate in its odd appearance.

If I had enough time to change anything about this piece it would be to make it more suggestive, to allow the audience be able to see what it is that I am trying to tell them about the artwork without them having to stare at the work for a long period of time or simply not to understand its meaning at all.
On the other hand I do also enjoy artwork that creates guess work for the people viewing and enjoy hearing each individual thought on what the artwork stands for and displays to them personally.