BEAVER
(Castor fiber) Print Code: A909

Distribution: This large European rodent is found in small numbers in European Russia, the Rhone and Elbe valleys and in Scandinavia.

Size: Head and body to 3 ft (91 cms.) plus a 15 in. (38 cms.) tail. Weighs from 30-75 Ibs. (14-34 kg.). Heaviest types in the
South.

Breeding Season: January/February.

Gestation period: Two to four months.

No. of young: Two to four.

Food: Mainly aspen and willow bark from tree branches, felted by themselves. Water plants and thistles in summer: twigs and branches, eaten by youngsters in winter.

Predators: Man. The beaver was once found all over Europe and Northern Asia but was cruelly exploited for Its fur and is now classified as a rare mammal

The English artists, whom I personally commissioned, were experts in their field and, before they even put pencil to paper, spent hours of intensive research into their subject matter. Then, as you can readily see, after many more hours of painstaking work involving infinite detail, the final paintings emerge. Paintings in which you can see almost every hair or feather, sense the very atmosphere.  In fact paintings that you can live with, for years. The paper is a heavy, 148 gsm (Approximately 100 lb) heavily embossed stock, of the highest imported quality.

Size: Print image size, 12.25 inches by 11 inches (31 cms by 28 cms).

These particular animal studies were chosen, researched and painted by Su Preedy.

She was born in Bristol in 1961 and grew up with a great passion for wildlife and painting. After attending evening art classes, she enrolled in an art college in Gloucester and included a course of graphic art in her curriculum.

In 1983 Su started exhibiting her work. Public reaction to her work led to several further exhibitions, gallery work and commissions. During 1986-87 she was one of the top selling artists in art exhibitions held by the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation.

She paints from a wide range of subjects: Butterflies to elephants and domestic animals to the big cats. Her work has been sold overseas and is collected by an increasing number of people in this country.