Hunt 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.

Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. Foxes have a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or brush).

Twelve species belong to the monophyletic “true foxes” group of genus Vulpes. Approximately another 25 current or extinct species are always or sometimes called foxes; these foxes are either part of the paraphyletic group of the South American foxes, or of the outlying group, which consists of the bat-eared fox, gray fox, and island fox. Foxes live on every continent except Antarctica. By far the most common and widespread species of fox is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) with about 47 recognized subspecies. The global distribution of foxes, together with their widespread reputation for cunning, has contributed to their prominence in popular culture and folklore in many societies around the world. The hunting of foxes with packs of hounds, long an established pursuit in Europe, especially in the British Isles, was exported by European settlers to various parts of the New World.