Wild Colour Specimens

These wild colour specimens represent our ongoing dialogue with Dartmoor's seasonal landscape. The plants were chosen from what has been abundantly available in the last year, with a slight preference given to native plants and trees. From over one hundred specimens, nine have been selected and framed for our Earth Day Collection 2025 based on its dynamism, clarity of colour, and evocation of place.

What happens when you allow nature to create its own art?

Each of these extraordinary pieces begins with a foraging journey across Dartmoor's moorland. Carefully selected plants—nettle, oak, willow, hawthorn, rowan, gorse, beech, ivy, and holly—are transformed through traditional methods into vibrant botanical inks. These inks aren't simply applied to paper. They're set free to dance and interact with modified versions of themselves, creating mesmerising patterns through natural chemical reactions that can never be exactly replicated.

The result? A completely unique abstract composition that carries the living essence of Dartmoor itself.

More Than Just Art—A Living Connection

Unlike conventional art that remains static, these Wild Colour prints continue their journey long after creation. Protected by museum-quality ArtGlass that filters harmful UV light, the botanical inks will gradually evolve over time—subtly shifting and developing in response to their environment.

Your piece isn't just a snapshot of Dartmoor; it's a living extension of it.

The Perfect Marriage of Heritage and Wilderness

Each wild colour specimen (100mm x 100mm) is also elegantly letterpress printed onto handmade watercolour paper using traditional techniques that date back centuries. The finished piece is professionally framed to approximately 230mm x 320mm.

This unique pairing of precise heritage craft with the wild unpredictability of foraged inks creates a work of art that speaks to the comfort we find in tradition and our connection to the natural world.

What You'll Receive

• One framed original letterpress print featuring your choice of Dartmoor-foraged botanical ink (subject to availability)
• Notes on Dartmoor's Wild Colour. A short essay on the process and plants used in this collection. Digitally printed, with letterpress cover.
  
• Certificate of authenticity

Only 9 prints exist in this collection—one for each botanical ink: nettle, oak, willow, hawthorn, rowan, gorse, beech, ivy, and holly.

These exact specimens will never be reproduced.

From environmental science to artistic expression, our work is deeply rooted in our adopted home of Dartmoor. Each piece begins outdoors with the foraging journey and combines our passion for nature with the precision of letterpress and the experimental chemistry of wild colours.

Several of these prints are currently with us in-person at Toby's Gardenfest. Any that don't sell will be relisted after 4 May. If you would like to be notified if/when one becomes available, please drop us an email (studio@princetownpress.co.uk), or add your email on the listing page.