Blackbirds - ONE SOLD - more available framed or unframed
By Anita Saunders
Limited edition prints
Hand-printed, drawing fluid screen prints
Acid-free high rag paper. Double white acid-free mount
Unframed/framed
Pictured above, in this order: Little Munchkin (18 colours), Narcissus (24 colours), Christmas Rose (23 colours), Whirly Bird (21 colours)
Little Munchkin and Whirly Bird are also available framed at £295 each
Image sizes:
- Little Munchkin: H: 32.5cm x W: 27cm
- Narcissus: H: 35cm x W: 26cm
- Christmas Rose: H: 32.5cm x W: 27cm
- Whirly Bird: H: 32cm x W: 24cm
Mount sizes - to outside edge: H: 50.8cm x W: 40.6cm - to fit a standard 20x16 inch frame
£175 each, unframed
These four blackbird screen prints are joyous in their settings, colours and compositions, each with the bird standing out against a familiar garden or floral backdrop in vivid tints.
Each print, typically for Anita, is complex in its design and making. From her ‘master’ drawing, she works out how many separate colours are needed to make up the image – a separate screen is required for each individual colour and there are 18-24 in each of these works!
Selecting each colour in turn, she uses drawing fluid to draw/paint directly on to the mesh screen in all the places she wants that particular colour of ink to print and then applies screen block to the rest.
Each colour is layered on top of the previous colour, so it’s imperative to get the registration accurate each time. As the screen block and drawing fluid are water-based materials, the screens are not as robust as photographic and chemical-based methods. As a result, the editions are strictly limited which shows in their crisp lines and vibrant imagery, reflecting Antia's care and attention to detail.
ABOUT ANITA SAUNDERS
Anita was born and raised in The Cotswolds, in an 'area of outstanding natural beauty', which has been the life-long inspiration for her work.
Graduating with a BA in Fine Art from Exeter, today she works from her garden studio in the Wiltshire countryside, creating mainly in oil paint and traditional printmaking methods, a love of drawing underlying her work.
British wildlife and farm animals, together with the abundant flora of the hedgerows, are a constant source of inspiration. Hares, sheep, cattle and chickens appear time and again in Anita’s compositions. Her strictly limited editioned, hand-carved lino prints and hand-drawn and printed screen prints contain an extraordinary number of layers - often more than 20 - resulting in joyful prints which fizz with vibrant colour. Her oil paintings often incorporate copper and gold leaf, to enhance rich colours and reflect light.
“My aim is to reflect my personal admiration and respect for living things by creating artworks which capture a sense of their vital spark, to somehow elevate the subject from the ordinary or everyday. I love what I do and hope some of the joy I experience, when creating it, is shared with others when they look at it.”
Anita’s prints are gaining recognition, with work selected for inclusion in the Society of Women Artists Open exhibition, Mall Galleries, London in 2022 & 2023, the Bath Society of Artists Open Exhibition 2023 and Ironbridge Fine Art Printmakers 2023. Her miniature wildlife paintings on gold and copper leaf are exclusive to us and have attracted great admiration since the turn of 2024 when her first collection sold out.