ARTIST Hester Cox creates striking, atmospheric prints which capture a world normally hidden from human sight.

Some of us may have been lucky enough to catch a fleeting glimpse of a hare, fox or deer as it bolts away, but Hester, at home in the North Yorkshire landscape, has been seeking out and observing these wary, reclusive creatures for more than 20 years.

Her art tells the story of the beating heart of the landscape - the creatures most of us know are there, but rarely get to see.

So it is no surprise the keen fell runner cites the Dales as her 'inspiration', and says she enjoys nothing more than exploring the parts that vehicles are unable to reach.

“Running on hills and through woods, you cover big distances and get to places you don’t get to by car," she said.

"I see all sorts of animals in the wild, and nesting birds like oystercatchers, curlews and skylarks. I recently saw sandpipers nesting by the river.

“It is being in this natural landscape, the plants and wildlife that inhabit it and the stories, myths and symbolism associated with them that inspires me."

From her photographs and sketches, she creates designs on collagraph plates which she hand inks and prints, often in layers, to achieve the rich colours and textures that make her work so distinctive.

This she does on an etching press in her garden studio at her home in Horton-in-Ribblesdale, near Settle.

Her prints sell all over the world including to collectors in Australia, Tokyo, America and Canada - and among her better-known clients is racing driver, Nigel Mansell.

Her best-selling work includes a print of a lone fox, stealthily making its way through a forest, and a blackbird in brambles with a wild raspberry in its beak.

She usually makes up to 50 limited edition copies of each, but says: “It’s hard to know what will grab people’s imagination, but those two prints just sold out straight away."

In the past she has exhibited all over the country, including at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal.

And next month, from November 7 onwards, she will make a return to the Lime Gallery, Settle, where her work will form part of its major winter exhibition.

This will see her collagraph work on display, in the place which inspired it, for almost three months.

"I'm looking forward to exhibiting there again.

"It is a lovely space full of gorgeous art and design."

She hails her 'local gallery' for helping her develop a following in North Yorkshire.

"It's great to have the gallery on my doorstep.

"I'll be showing work with a number of artists but am particularly pleased to exhibit with fellow printmaker Pam Grimmond again.

"I love her work. We share similar influences and a love for birds which has meant we have exhibited together a number of times."

The 43-year-old explains she is constantly developing her work, pushing boundaries and experimenting with new techniques.

“I use texture glues, collage, bits of fabric, dried leaves, plant material, bits of compost – you can print from pretty much anything. You’re only limited by your imagination.”

After sealing her plate with varnish, she inks it and puts it through the press.

The image is revealed for the first time when she peels the paper: “That is such a compelling moment!”

She has also been experimenting with photopolymer prints, using light sensitive, flexible steel plates which have been exposed to the sun, or in a special exposure unit, and then developed using water:

She would like to create large scale works one day and says trying new things keeps her 'fresh'.

Originally from Reading, it was her zoologist mother who encouraged her love of the great outdoors with regular nature rambles.

She went on to study illustration at Harrow School of Art and first got involved in print making after being commissioned to produce a series of lino cut designs for Friends of the Earth.

“I instantly loved print,” she says.

Her first etching press, which she still uses, sits in the centre of her studio today. She bought for £1,200 the year after leaving college, having worked in a shop to save up for it.

At first, she produced her prints – which now fetch up to £400 unframed – in her spare time, working at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance library in Leeds to fund her art. Soon she was selling work through galleries all over the country and started to build up a following.

But after splitting up from her boyfriend she took a complete break and set off on a one-and-a-half year solo trip around the world, partly funded by her art work.

Staying in a series of hostels, yurts and bamboo huts, she travelled through Russia, China, Tibet, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, then headed to Mexico and South America, where she taught English at a school in Peru.

Although she had taken notebooks and sketchpads and had her camera with her, she didn’t produce much art while she was there.

But a printmaker in Mexico finally inspired her to return to the UK.

“He let me work in his studio and I made a decision. I wanted to get back to doing my own work.”

Since then she has been creating work featuring the creatures and landscape of her beloved Yorkshire Dales.

"I have a bit of a Bristol accent sometimes," she adds.

"But this is home."