{"id":1270,"date":"2024-10-14T09:09:07","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T09:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland\/?p=1270"},"modified":"2024-10-14T09:09:07","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T09:09:07","slug":"putting-the-natural-world-in-print","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/highlights\/putting-the-natural-world-in-print\/10-2024","title":{"rendered":"Putting the natural world in print"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rutland artist, illustrator and author Angela Harding\u2019s latest book celebrates the natural world and the British coastline, as seen from her boat. This month we\u2019re off on our travels, enjoying Britain\u2019s Still Waters and its Wild Waves<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Two Curlews on the Deben, Angela Harding.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Image:
Image: Joanne Crawford.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\ufeffShould you ever doubt that the natural world is nothing short of a miracle, Rutland artist Angela Harding\u2019s work will serve as a beautiful reminder.  Based in Wing, Angela is inspired by nature and by birdlife in particular. Last month, she published her third book combining her artwork with reflections of how nature is a constant in a world that\u2019s otherwise ever-changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the run up to Christmas Angela will be promoting the book, Still Waters and Wild Waves, returning to her premises on Oakham\u2019s Burley Road to host an Open Studio event on Friday 1st November to Sunday 3rd November, enabling her appreciative audience to meet the artist and to purchase this year\u2019s new Christmas cards  and gift wrap, Angela\u2019s advent calendar, as well as her homewares, books and gifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela was the first to direct the Leicester Print Workshop, a centre of excellence for those pursuing techniques in fine art printmaking such as Angela\u2019s linocut work, which has established her as one of Britain\u2019s most sought-after artists for publishers of books including authors such as PD James and Val McDermid. Her work has also featured in many magazines from Gardens Illustrated to BBC Countryfile and Country Living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From an initial sketch, Angela\u2019s print involves carving into lino and silk-screen printing images manually on her Rochat Albion press. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a slower and more considered process than other forms of art, but the reward is worth it… and besides Angela and her husband Mark recognise that sometime the journey, not the destination is the point. Hence they\u2019ve enjoyed extensive trips together abroad their wooden sailboat, Windsong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMark is a self-taught sailor and restored the boat, a 24ft clinker, which we\u2019ve sailed around Britain affording me plenty of time to record the landscape and the animals and birdlife we\u2019ve observed, sketching them roughly so I\u2008can develop them into more formal designs later on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy sketchbook was a gift from professional bookbinder and friend Roger Grechs, and it is definitely one of my favourite possessions. It\u2019s frayed and tattered with the cardboard showing through  the decorative cover, and my initials embossed in gold. It\u2019s a little grand for a sketch book, but also too beautiful to go unused, so along with Mark and the boat, it\u2019s been an important partner during our travels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor two years I\u2019ve filled it with sketches, some random notes, and my dashed-off scribbles, and so together we\u2019ve been everywhere from the Shetlands to the Isles of Scilly, where it has picked up raindrops and the odd coffee stain along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwo of those months, in 2023, were spent in an artist\u2019s croft on Fair Isle, an absolutely extraordinary landscape measuring three miles by one and a half miles, and with a population of just 40 people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy time on the island has seen me working with the knowledgeable and friendly rangers, observing migratory birds and generally just spending time taking in the awe and relatively undisturbed beauty of such an impressive landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve dedicated a chapter \u2013 Wild Waves and Small Islands \u2013 to the experience. Having worked on a number of other projects in 2024 I missed the opportunity for a return visit so I\u2019m definitely planning to return in summer 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis year however I\u2019ve been really lucky to have had the chance to collaborate with some incredible writers including Isabella Tree on her story of the rewilding of the Knepp Estate in West Sussex.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve also worked with Poet Laureate Simon Armitage to illustrate his book, Blossomise, published in collaboration with the National Trust and celebrating spring in a collection of 21 poems. I\u2019ve enjoyed really good connections and close working relationships with the authors. I\u2008feel blessed and honoured that together we\u2019ve produced some really beautiful work which I hope those who purchase a copy of the books will really enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt does mean I\u2019ve had to turn down a few commissions and prioritise illustrating those books over producing my own work, but I\u2019m looking forward to picking that up this winter, enjoying a coffee and looking out of the window of my home studio at the bottom of the garden over frosty Rutland scenery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do have a few ideas for a future project but for now I\u2019m keeping those under wraps a bit, but before that there\u2019s Christmas too, which I absolutely love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve finally completed an extension at home which means I\u2019ve the space to host a proper family Christmas with our grown-up children and our grandchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChristmas is one of the few occasions that people take the time to handwrite a proper message in a card and post it off to someone. It\u2019s old fashioned to some and undoubtedly it\u2019s easy to send an email or a text these days. But that\u2019s not the point.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo me it\u2019s a gesture which is more deliberate. more meaningful. I hope that each of my notelets or Christmas cards are sent with messages of love and best wishes, and that each of the doors of my advent calendars are opened with a smile, a little gesture or a moment of happiness each day!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Angela Harding, Imprinting Shadows. Photography by Joanne Crawford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Still Waters & Wild Waves<\/strong>
Angela\u2019s latest book was released last month, and it\u2019s a journey across Britain in pursuit of wildlife and water<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Featuring over 50 original illustrations of dramatic seascapes and reflective rivers, alongside photography of the stunning places that inspired the artwork, Angela Harding’s beautiful new book captures the waters that move us.<\/span>

<\/p>

Throughout its pages, Angela turns her attention to the UK\u2019s waterways. <\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sailing in Windsong, her fifty-year-old trusted wooden boat, she travels the Northern shores of Shetland, down to the Isles of Scilly, drawing the coastline and waterways, birds, boats and beaches, capturing the serenity of still waters and the energy and power of wild waves in her sketches, photos and prints.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela takes readers with her on her travels across rivers and seas, featuring beautiful paintings and prints, pages from Angela’s personal sketchbooks and stunning photos.\u00a0It is a joyful celebration of water and wildlife across Britain: perfect for art admirers and nature lovers everywhere.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Available via www.angelaharding.co.uk or in Angela\u2019s studio on Burley Road, Oakham. \u00a325\/hardback, 175 pages with 50 original illustrations.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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