Bird & Animal Wall Art from Nordic Artists
Every creature here lives inside its landscape rather than posing for it. Ishtar Bäcklund Dakhil, in Stockholm, sends a pale aeroplane, which can also pass for a bird, gliding over a green valley, and half-hides a horned creature among blue leaves. Markus Naarttijärvi photographs a lone swan drifting across a misty lake at first light, and a small flock of dark sheep looking straight at the camera from a muddy track. Patrik Wennerlund caught his crow on a December morning of thick fog. That's what makes an animal print sit well in a Scandinavian room: atmosphere and shape rather than field-guide detail. Every print here can be bought framed in wood, black or white, or unframed.
The moods differ more than the subjects. Swan on Still Water is the calmest of them, almost mirror-still, with the small white bird the only bright point in the frame. Sheep on the Track is a little wry, and the crow is the moodiest, a bird held in fog the sun never quite broke through. Ishtar's two illustrations bring the colour: green valley, blue rivers and pink rock under the aeroplane, cool blue leaves with touches of ochre around the creature. Choose on the light rather than the animal. Misty grey and soft white run quiet against pale walls and wood, and the painted pieces will carry a wall that needs colour.
Prints
Styling bird and animal prints
- A single animal print does better with a wall to itself. Centre it at eye level, roughly 145 to 150 cm off the floor, and leave the space either side empty so the landscape around the creature has room.
- Match the light to the room, not the animal. The misty photographs sit happily on white walls and pale wood, while Ishtar's painted pieces want warmth and colour around them.
- The two photographs from Markus Naarttijärvi hang well together because they share a photographer's eye and a damp northern light. Same frame, an even 5 to 8 cm gap, and they read as a considered pair.
- If you would rather stay with one artist across a bigger wall, Ishtar Bäcklund Dakhil's other illustrations share the same hand-painted language as the aeroplane and the creature.
Common questions
What makes an animal print feel Scandinavian?
Atmosphere and shape, mostly. The animals here are part of a northern landscape rather than studies of themselves: Markus Naarttijärvi's swan drifts on a misty lake, Patrik Wennerlund's crow sits in December fog, and Ishtar Bäcklund Dakhil's aeroplane crosses its valley as one pale shape. All three artists live and work in the Nordics, which is why these read as Nordic animal prints rather than anything out of the wildlife-plate tradition.
What sizes do these prints come in, and can I have them framed?
Sizes are listed on each product page, where you also choose unframed or a wood, black or white frame, with the price for the size you've picked shown before you add it to the basket. Every print is made to order and delivered worldwide, with the cost shown at checkout.