An Abundance of Mistletoe Art Screen Print

'An Abundance of Mistletoe' original hand printed art screen print by Fiona Hamilton.
Printed on 300gsm Somerset Satin paper.
Paper measures 30cm x 40cm.
Signed, titled and editioned in an edition of 10.

This print is from a small series of halftone photographic screen prints in black ink onto metallic copper-gold grounds. Reminiscent of copper etching plates which Fiona works with much of the time, screen print is a way of bringing the warmth of the metal to life and reproducing it as an artwork.

Please be aware that due to the gold ink, the print changes colour as the light hits it at different angles. It can change from a yellow gold in the sun to a darker orange gold in the shade. This is a very pleasing aspect of using metallic pigments.

The mistletoe in the picture is from a photograph taken on a winter's day where Long Ashton meets Ashton Court in Bristol, where much of Fiona's work and inspiration comes from.

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.

About the artist:

Fiona Hamilton is a Bristol based contemporary printmaker and artist. Her work explores the ecological sublime and an appreciation of the majesty of nature. She uses 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. She uses 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. She works from sketches, photographs, notes and memory to create her prints.

Fiona has an MA in Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking from The University of the West of England (2023). Previously she studied Graphic Fine Art at Canterbury (2002) and established Soma Gallery in 2004.