Swifts return every year to nest in the eaves of our house. Harbinger of summer, it beings me great joy so see them scything through the sky, their acrobatic flight and speed exhilarating, accompanied by their wild screeches echoing around our garden. I can’t wait to see them again this year. As Ted Hughes writes in his poem “Swifts“…

“They’ve made it again,
Which means the globe’s still working, the Creation’s
Still waking refreshed, our summers
Still all to come-“…

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