“It’s a commission I’ve always dreamt of doing”

Many of you will know that, after several years of working with the wonderful Rosanna Morris, we’ll be welcoming a new artist for our 2025 Landworkers’ Alliance Calendar – Emma Reith! The process of putting it together is well underway and we’re really excited to welcome a fresh new print style to the calendar. We sat down with Emma recently to find out more about her work, her process and how she approached this commission.

 Emma Reith is a printmaker and illustrator, working based in from her home-studio in Cornwall. She studied Illustration at Falmouth University, where she started print-making, specialising in lino-cut printmaking by her second year. We recently joined her by video call in her home-studio in Cornwall, where she recently cut and printed 12 beautiful designs for the 2025 LWA Calendar, a process that Emma describes as intense, but fun – she carved for a month solid!  “It wasn’t great for my back, but the carving is my favourite part of the process because you can lose yourself in it – it’s like a flow state! I find it really relaxing”

 Emma’s work draws primarily draws from the abundance of wildlife and biodiversity we have here in the UK and she aims to create images that inspire people to get outside and enjoy the natural world around us. “I love learning about the myriad of plants and animals we are lucky enough to share this planet with, and each piece begins with in depth research around the environment I’m depicting.” The walks Emma takes in the coastal landscape of rural Cornwall directly influence what she is drawing at the time, and her work is influenced by a curiosity not only in the aesthetics of the landscape, but what she can learn and communicate about the plants or creatures she’s seeing.

   She has an interesting process of layering designs on see-through paper – to get the composition just right. Her final design will be a jigsaw of all of those layers, which will then be carved for printing. Emma generally likes to work with just one colour, and relies on working with positive and negative space to bring character to her subjects, rather than colour; “I feel like with the carving process, you’re removing stuff, it’s quite unusual in the sense that you’re working into a negative space. And so playing with that is really fun – I really like it. The compositions are often quite busy – there’s alot going on – it helps to kind of create a bit of separation and breathing space. It helps describe the environment you’re working with as well. It create balance in the composition – which I always try and aim for.”

Emma was chosen from a shortlist of 5 artists whose work the LWA calendar working group thought best aligned with the values and ethos of the LWA, and the ‘DIY’ aesthetic of the calendar. Emma’s work won us over with its vibrancy, incredible detail and fluidity. She is an incredibly skilled printmaker and full of enthusiasm for nature, art and activism. A great fit for the LWA!

“It’s a commission I’ve always dreamed of doing. Everything LWA stands for I completely support and agree with – the LWA really helps to bring people and nature together. It’s an amazing platform as well, and a really great commission. I’m really happy to be working with you guys!””

Emma Reith

    Emma was delighted to get an email offering her the commission – “It’s a commission I’ve always dreamed of doing. When I was at uni, I thought, “That would be a dream client”. I got an email in my inbox, out of the blue, as I’d just quit my job. It was perfect timing. Everything LWA stands for I completely support and agree with – the LWA really helps to bring people and nature together. It’s an amazing platform as well, and a really great commission. I’m really happy to be working with you guys!”

   The depth and fluidity of Emma’s designs bring to life not only what is happening in the land with each month and season, but the people who work in the landscapes too. What’s striking from a first look at the designs is the way they bring seasonal tasks like haymaking, hedge-laying, harvesting flowers, seaweed vegetables and fruits, beekeeping and gathering around seasonal celebrations to life, and places landworking people firmly as part of their landscape. Emma tells us how she wanted to reflect knowledge of the natural world and the seasons in each design and for each design to be a balance of people with nature;

“I really wanted to communicate people working with nature – they can be symbiotic and can co-exist quite beautifully”

Emma Reith

   This year’s calendar will not only include information about seasonal tasks and the landscape through the year, but will also feature seasonal recipes. Emma was really keen to highlight the work that goes into producing the ingredients in those recipes through her prints, and the producers and landworkers behind them; “I hope it highlights the work that goes into growing our food, looking after our hedgerows – and encourages people to just appreciate it more.”

   We’re so excited to reveal the new calendar later in the year, and to showcase the beautiful work Emma has been doing for us over the last few months. You’ll agree, no doubt, that the LWA calendar makes a beautiful feature on the walls in our houses, homes, packing sheds and farm offices – a piece of art in its own right – and this year will be no different. Emma achieves incredible depth, liveliness and character using only positive and negative space, and even through the darkest, coldest months, we think her designs will bring your walls to life and inspire a deeper and more active relationship with nature, the foods it offers and the hardworking landfolk who grow and harvest it. 

“I hope it highlights the work that goes into growing our food, looking after our hedgerows – and encourages people to just appreciate it more.”

Emma Reith

Stay tuned for the grand release of Emma’s designs in a fresh, new look LWA calendar, coming soon to the Landworkers Alliance online shop! The calendar is a vital fundraiser for the Landworkers’ Alliance each year – so not only does it offer a functional, beautiful gift for yourself or your loved one, but also helps us to be more effective in our work!