The Curlew has become a frequent companion on many of my walks in the wilder parts of northern England. The presence of its familiar call, particularly in apparently empty settings of moorland or at river estuaries, led me to mistake it a commonplace bird.

This presence also meant I was ignorant of its endangerment. This precariousness was an unnerving realisation, given the contribution of the call of this particular bird to my experience of the natural world.

The work therefore has a very explicit subject, whose call is explored in a haiku, a Japanese form of verse, traditionally relating to nature.

The poem is printed in letterpress- once a commonplace technique, but now an uncommon way of communicating the printed word.

A new bestiary and herbarium for at risk species by artists from Northern Print.

“Endless Forms Most Beautiful” is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to support visits, new printmaking and school’s programme for this project.

Northern Print artists bring together traditional printmaking and the natural world with a series of new prints highlighting the diversity of species that are categorised as ‘at risk’.

The ‘endless forms’ include marine life; plants; birds; insects and mammals with many familiar and much-loved species as well as less known and intriguing creatures that have captured the imagination and hearts of Northern Print’s artists.

This exhibition of 45 new prints has been made following a series of visits to our region’s natural history collections and habitats and represents the tiniest tip of the iceberg of our natural world under threat.

The artwork includes a range of approaches and printmaking processes – including heritage craft skills also deemed at risk including letterpress and mould-made papers