Louise Bird has always looked towards natural history for inspiration. During her degree course in Fine Art Printmaking, she became fascinated by bees and her interest has continued until this day. I get great satisfaction knowing that my artwork is helping spread awareness that bees are under threat from loss of habitat, as a result of modern farming methods and the decline of wild areas, says Louise. Currently her subjects have broadened to include insects and birds.
Louise Bird enjoys using a variety of print techniques, most notably mezzotint, which involves a great deal of time and patience. Louise is always discovering new ways of combining techniques and she often layer prints as a way to create depth in an image. I enjoy Collagraph and Monoprint in conjunction with mezzotint and often include painting and drawing to create unique results in my fine art printmaking.
Louise Bird has been a practicing printmaker working from her studio in Norfolk for over 20 years. She has exhibited widely, her work being seen at 'The Society of Wildlife Artists annual show, London, The Royal College of Art, London, and the Affordable Art Fair, New York, to name a few. Louise is proud to be involved with 'The Norwich Print Fair' since its first show in 1995 and have also organised and curated 'Print Fair Elements' at The Forum, Norwich, both these events dedicated to promoting printmaking in Norfolk and Suffolk, which gives her great satisfaction.
"Louise's fascination with the natural history and the bee world has dominated her work as a printmaker for many years. She is an expert on the various species, and their habitats. Her large pieces are part hand-made print, part painting - working only with printing inks directly onto paper. Giant bumblebees tumble across the paper - furry, cuddly and glowing. Honeybees work busily, unaware of the magnifying glass held up to see them. In these, and smaller works, Louise opens our eyes to the charm of the insect world."
