Tessa Beaver studied at the Slade School of Art in 1953 and spent a further year at the School working mainly in etching under John Buckland-Wright.  After some time spent travelling in Europe she became an illustrator, specifically working with children’s books.  In the 1960s she travelled to Kenya with her husband and learned the art of woodblock printing, which combined with etching became her main focus.  On her return to England she set up a printing studio in Leamington Spa.  In 2014 an exhibition ‘In My Craft or Sullen Art’ was held at Leamington Spa Gallery and Museum showing a selection of Beaver’s paintings, drawings, etchings and woodblock prints.

Her work shows the influence of Japanese printmaking and she often combined techniques to produce unusual and striking results.