This is an attractive wildlife print by James Williamson Bell. It is a signed woodcut which is dated 1980 and is pencil signed and with the edition on the lower margin.
His print shows a little blackbird with sleek black plumage foraging about on the ground looking for tasty things to eat. I love the vivid red blooms on the foliage behind. I think that the plant is a more exotic one called Red Spider Lily. The plant forms a decorative border and gives a sense of distance to the scene. It is also the type of motif much favoured in much earlier Oriental woodcuts.
It would look lovely in a country cottage or house in a rustic / rural location.
James Williamson Bell was a native of Wallsend, Newcastle and began his working life in the Tyneside ship-building industry. In the 1960s he worked as a draughtsman at the Swan Hunter yard. It wasn’t until 1974 that he took the decision to leave the shipyard to pursue a career in art.
Bell soon mastered painting and drawing in mixed media as well as various printmaking techniques. His subjects included the industrial landscapes of the northeast as well as its wildlife.
Bell was elected to the Society Of Wildlife Artists in 1976 producing finely detailed studies of birds and mammals and gaining many commissions. He illustrated for the Newcastle Journal and Chronicle, and won several medals at the Paris Salon for his bird paintings.
He developed a fascination for Chinese art, and spent several months in China. Some of his work is signed with his personal “chop”, the square woodcut signature typical of Eastern art (as can be seen in the top right hand corner of this work). It was there he developed a love of oriental brush painting, a technique that was to shape his later work.
Bell often exhibited in France, winning Silver and Gold Awards at the Societe des Artistes Paris Salon and the Academie Europeane des Beaux Arts. He also exhibited in New York, South Korea, Nairobi and China, and showed annually with The Society Of Wildlife Artists.
This print comes framed in a simple black frame. It is generally nice and clean with no condition issues - ready for your to just hang on your wall.
Dimensions: The frame is 47.5 x 30.5 cm. The image is 38 x 22.7 cm.
It will be sent to you with Parcelforce24 and will be just over £10. This will be applied to your order at the checkout.