Chris Cordingly, co-founder of Art Angels, reflects on his first encounter with the printmaker Angela Harding and the years of collaboration that followed, tracing the development of her work and its increasing public recognition.
I first discovered Angela’s distinctive approach to printmaking in a small gallery in North Norfolk in 2009. I was immediately struck by her fresh and original sense of composition, seen here in Home Bird, one of the first linocut images we published as cards.
Angela has an instinctive ability to capture the essence of a place and to distill the shapes and forms of the natural world. Whilst there are references to the English tradition, she has brought it into the 21st Century, the new modern, at once familiar yet fresh.
Angela works from her beautifully placed studio at the bottom of her lovely garden overlooking rolling fields, a classic English rural scene.
In November of 2016, Angela had her first solo exhibition, Flights of Memory at the YSP, which I was proud to open on her behalf.
This exhibition showcased the birds and animals of the British Isles in their natural landscapes, from countryside to coast, hedgerow to heath. To quote the Guardian at that time:
"Hares leap, foxes hunt and birds hide in hedges in Harding’s block prints, which give nature a robustly drawn, iconic intensity."
Angela’s work and creative techniques have continued to develop, as she adds more detail to the landscapes that surround her wildlife images.
In recent years, Angela has written and illustrated a diverse collection of books - most recently the Seasonal Quartet, a collection of four books illustrating the changing seasons. Other titles include: Still Water & Wild Waves, Wild Light, A Year Unfolding, Wilding and Blossomise - a collection of poems by Simon Armitage.
She has also further raised her profile through the collection of enormously popular Advent calendars and 3D cards through her collaboration with the creative team here at Art Angels.
Last year Angela featured with Martha Kearney on BBC Radio 4's This Natural Life as she travelled to Fair Isle, and in October ’25 she joined Lauren Laverne on Desert Island Discs to discuss the creative inspiration behind her work.
At Art Angels, we have been proud to represent Angela’s work for the past 15 years, with our team working closely with her to develop the collection of cards, Advent calendars and other paper products from our Norwich studio. It really has been a joy to work together and to have had so many years of successful and enjoyable collaboration — with all of these products printed and hand-assembled in Norwich.
We understand that Angela now wishes to move on to explore other mediums and to develop her home, lifestyle and gift ranges while consolidating her production base. Art Angels will continue to sell through existing stock but will not be producing any new work with Angela going forward.
Chris Cordingly
Co-founder - Art Angels
Studio photograph of Angela Harding by Joanna Crawford.
