Crest by Chess

“Original artwork collage uses genuine vintage sections of the Collins Complete Guide to British Wildlife – N.Arlott, R.Fitter, A.Fitter – HarperCollins 1994”

Chess is a mixed media artist based in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Her work firmly roots the iconic figures that she paints in their context, incorporating original newspaper clippings from throughout their lives and legacies.

The textual element of her work brings together the love of reading and writing that she explored through her English degree and Creative Writing Masters with her love of painting and creating.

The finished pieces, as well as being detailed portraits, have the added dimension of the stories that are attached to them.

The European robin (Erithacus rubecula), known simply as the robin or robin redbreast in the British Isles, is a small insectivorous passerine bird that belongs to the chat subfamily of the Old World flycatcher family. About 12.5–14.0 cm (5.0–5.5 inches) in length, the male and female are similar in colouration, with an orange breast and face lined with grey, brown upper-parts and a whitish belly. It is found across Europe, east to Western Siberia and south to North Africa; it is sedentary in most of its range except the far north.

The term robin is also applied to some birds in other families with red or orange breasts. These include the American robin (Turdus migratorius), a thrush, and the Australasian robins of the family Petroicidae, the relationships of which are unclear.