Fiona Hamilton

Branches Blue, Limited edition print, Landscape, Tree, Nature art

2022

This print of a pine tree uses kitakata Japanese tissue chine collé to depict the warmth and colour of early autumnal light. It is then backed onto Hahnemule printmaking paper. The subject matter is from Ashton Court Estate in Bristol. This body of work is based on the book by Suzanne Simard, 'Finding the Mother Tree'. Trees communicate via mycorrhizal fungi to trade water and other nutrients. Ancient and mature trees nurture their offspring via these networks, as well as trading nutrients between other species. Botanist Simard has spent years working on this theory as part of a wider body of work, discovering what it means for forests, the climate and the wider Anthropocene. My work explores the ecological sublime and an appreciation of the majesty of nature. I use detailed intaglio etching, drypoint, lithography and chine collé to draw the viewer into an ethereal landscape that has an impact on our sense of place in relation to the natural world. I use primarily black and white with natural tones of chine collé and sometimes layers of lithographic texture to introduce warmth to the stark palette and to invoke a sublime emotional connection. I work from sketches, photographs, notes and memory to create my prints. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Black & White, Chine Collé, Drypoint, Drypoint print, Etching, Etching print on Paper Edition of 20 44 H x 32 W x 1 D cm (17.32 x 12.60 x 0.39 in) Sold unframed Image size: Height: 30cm (11.81 in) Width: 20cm (7.87 in) Complete size of sheet Height: 44cm (17.32 in) Width: 32cm (12.60 in) Depth: 1cm (0.39 in) ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: Fiona Hamilton is a printmaker based in Bristol. Interested in process she uses a combination of mediums, both traditional and contemporary, to produce unique imagery, often as one off pieces or in small limited editions. She currently works in silkscreen, cyanotype and foil. Fiona’s artwork draws on a lot of natural themes such as plants, leaves, trees and creatures including lots of birds. She mostly works directly from nature or from photographs she has taken. She regularly lugs a heavy telephoto lens about to get photos of birds...

Scots Pine drypoint etching printed onto Japanese gampi tissue and backed onto German Hahnemule printmaking paper. This print depicts a mature pine tree, standing proud from the rest...

The image depicts a restaurant on New York's Mott Street with ornamental iron work on the balconies. There are six figures in the scene in various stages of contrast. Mott Street is considered the unofficial Main Street of New York's Chinatown. Ella Fitzgerald sang it best: “And tell me what street compares with Mott Street in July? Sweet pushcarts gently gliding by.” CFW Mielatz was an early influence on the drypoints and etchings of Martin Lewis. This piece was created in 1906 and it is signed in pencil. It is part of the collection of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art C.F.W. Mielatz American, 1860-1919 Born in Bredding, Germany in 1864, Mielatz emigrated to the United States as a young boy and studied at the Chicago School of Design. Mostly self-taught, his first prints were large New England landscapes reminiscent of the painter-etcher school of American Art. Around 1890 he started to produce prints of New York City and by the time of his death, the number totaled over ninety images. He was a master technician in the field of etching, reworking many of his plates to get the exact feeling he was seeking. Mielatz was a member of the New York Etching...

This impression of "Here They Come !" is from the fourth state of eight. There are six known impressions of the fourth state. Edition 150 (final state). It is signed in pencil in the lower left and inscribed "D-1". The image size 13 7/8 x 11 3/4" (34.6 x 28.8 cm) and sheet size 16 3/4 x 14 5/8" (42.8 x 37.1 cm). FRANK W. BENSON (1862-1951) Frank Weston Benson, well known for his American impressionist paintings, also produced an incredible body of prints - etchings, drypoints, and a few lithographs. Born and raised on the North Shore of Massachusetts, Benson, a natural outdoorsman, grew up sailing, fishing, and hunting. From a young age, he was fascinated with drawing and birding – this keen interest continued throughout his life. His first art instruction was with Otto Grundman at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and then in 1883 in Paris at the Academie Julian where he studied the rigorous ‘ecole des beaux arts’ approach to drawing and painting for two years. During the early 1880’s Seymour Haden visited Boston giving a series of lectures on etching. This introduction to the European etching...