Designer of The Month: Angela Harding

We are proud to announce that for October our Designer of the Month crown goes to the exceptionally talented print maker Angela Harding. Famous for her crisp and colourful depictions of birds and the English countryside, Angela’s work really stands out from the crowd for being modern yet beautifully classic.

A Little Bit of History

Between the years of 1979 and 1982 Angela studied Fine Art at Leicester University. Having always enjoyed painting and crafts as a child this was an obvious course for the aspiring young artist to choose. Unsurprisingly, Angela also always had a love of birds, collecting feathers as small child. She later went on to complete an MA in Fine Art from Nottingham Trent University after which she became the  Director of Leicester Print Making Workshop as well as teaching in a range of local colleges.

And Now…

Angela now works from her studio in Rutland, a beautiful county from which she contantly draws inspiration. Angela often walks with a sketchbook, making quick drawings of the flora and fauna she encounters whilst on daily walks with her beloved dogs. Being the Artist in Residence at Rutland Water also helps with Angela spending 1 day a week observing & drawing the reservoir birds from hides. When back in the studio she works through these sketchbooks and develops these initial concepts into prints or on to canvas. Angela also draws inspiration from other areas such as Cornwall and Suffolk, where there are a number of galleries that display her work.

Many national publications such as Countryside Living, Gardens Illustrated, Elle and BBC Countryfile have featured her prints over the last couple of years, with Angela creating bespoke pieces for a number of them.

As well as wall prints, Angela’s work can be found on greetings cards and of course, tea towels! We have been printing Angela’s designs for a number of years and are always blown away by their simplistic beauty.

Blackbird & Roses Nest

Robin

We asked Stuart what is was about Angela’s work that he loved. He rather poetically told us:

"I like Angela beacuse she combines strength and simplicity to achieve delightful images and harmonious design with powerful use of colour."