Exhibition:
This exhibition has been assembled in collaboration with the Charles Tunnicliffe Society. We record our thanks to them, particularly Ken Broughton and Stuart Pittman, and to the many private collectors and public collections who have loaned work. Tunnicliffe was one of the most important and influential nature inspired artists of the twentieth century. His impact is still felt today.
Charles Tunnicliffe (1901 – 1979) was the only son of a shoemaker turned farmer and grew up in Cheshire. All his later work as an artist shows him to be a man totally familiar with the animals and machinery of the farm, and the beauty, customs and modesty of the countryside. After art training in Macclesfield and Manchester, he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, London, where he won another scholarship for a further year to study etching.
Having worked for a while as a part-time teacher, Tunnicliffe left London in 1928 and returned to Cheshire as a commercial artist. In 1932 he produced the illustrations for Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter which was a great success and established the reputations of both artist and author.
From 1947 until his death Tunnicliffe lived on the Isle of Anglesey. He was hard work and versatility personified. Etchings, wood engravings, scraper-board illustrations, oil paintings, delicate pencil drawings, simple tiny composition sketches and large finished watercolours – all were part of his prolific output.
He was elected RA in 1954 and awarded the OBE in 1978. In 1974, he was honoured at the Royal Academy by an exhibition of his collection of measured drawings of birds. Several of these (and other RA pictures) are included in this show.
Having had work widely published in magazines and books, including some of his own, as well as the likes of Cussons Imperial Leather advertisements, Brook Bond tea cards, The Radio Times, Ladybird books and for 12 years the covers to RSPB’s magazine Bird Notes, he is an artist whose work has impacted on countless people’s lives, earning respect too, not just in the wildlife art world, but the wider art establishment.
Sir Peter Scott described him as simply ’the greatest wildlife artist of the twentieth century’.
Summer Holidays Art Activity Days:
This Summer we are running a range of our popular art activity days for children aged 3 years and over. They include:
26th Jul – Oil Pastels Inspired by Picasso
27th Jul – Marvellous Marbling
28th Jul – Garden Noughts & Crosses
29th Jul – Pond Dipping
2nd Aug – Paper Making
3rd Aug – Finger Print Doodles
4th Aug – Origami
5th Aug – Sun Print Photography
9th Aug – Paper Sculpture Lizard
10th Aug – Model with Mod Roc
11th Aug – Make a Clay Vessel
12th Aug – Wire Sculpture
16th Aug – The Art of Print Making
17th Aug – Cave Paintings
18th Aug – Painting Party
19th Aug – Pen & Watercolour in the Garden
23rd Aug – Marvellous Mosaics
24th Aug – Landscapes in Textiles
25th Aug – Encaustic Art
26th Aug – Weaving
30th Aug – Build & Decorate a Hedgehog House
31st Aug – Simon Says “Draw & Colour!”
Each workshop interprets the day’s theme using age appropriate materials and techniques. The different times are:
10.30-12.00pm: for 3 – 7 years
1.00-2.30pm: for 3 – 18 years
3.00-4.30pm: for 8 – 18 years
Each activity costs £6 per child and includes free entry to the museum for one accompanying adult. All activity must be booked in advance via our online booking system.
To see full details and to book please visit our Activity Days home page, here.
Exhibition:
The Independence Trust strengthen people’s emotional and physical well-being to support them to fulfil their potential. This display features artwork by some of their clients who have found art a real help and inspiration in life.
JOIN US FOR A SPECIAL EVENT ON THURSDAY 25th AUGUST:
Elephant in the Room Cheese & Wine Evening Invite.
Artist in Residence
Jackie Garner is a renowned gloucestershire based wildlife artist who returns to the studio by popular demand. As well as having been a regular artist in residence at Nature in Art, Jackie also is a regular tutor at the museum. Please note Jackie will finish demonstrating at 4pm on 30th October.
A chance to walk around the beautiful grounds of Nature in Art and sketch with tutor Stan Giles. Materials provided. Free of charge but donations to The Independence Trust welcome. Spaces are limited so please call 01452 713422 to book your place.
The Elephant in the Room exhibition & The Independence Trust present an exclusive viewing of the exhib
ition whilst enjoying cheese and wine.
Tickets are £5
Please email Lisa Nash for tickets and further details.
Lisa.Nash@independencetrust.co.uk
Art Course
with Trevor Smith 10am – 5pm
Maximum Participants: 12
This 2-day course will focus on the sketching, drawing and painting of birds, with the emphasis on working from life.
The course will cover topics such as basic sketching techniques, simple anatomy, and the use of watercolour in sketching. For the more ambitious, there will be the opportunity to have a go at sketching birds in flight, which is more of a challenge.
This course is aimed at a range of ability levels, with Trevor on hand to demonstrate particular techniques and to help you develop and improve your observational skills
when sketching birds.
Course Cost
Members: £80
Non-members: £100
Course Suitability: Absolute Beginners – Advanced
ART COURSE BOOKING FORM
Materials
A range a B grade pencils (eg 2b – 6b)
An A4 or A3 cartridge paper pad
An eraser ( if desired)
A colour medium such as watercolour
pencils or a field box of watercolours with a couple of brushes (perhaps a number 4 or 5, and a 10 or 12 round)
A container for water
Artist’s Profile
Trevor’s deep interest in wildlife dates back to childhood and grew concurrently with a
desire to record the birds and animals he encountered on his visits to local nature
reserves and wild corners of Worcestershire.
Trevor has been teaching students the essentials of bird art for over twenty years now, but still get a kick from seeing people thrill to the subject and often surprise
themselves with hidden latent ability. He has also published a book Sketching Wild Birds in 2001 as a means of encapsulating my experiences of recording images from life.
Artist in Residence
Originally from New Zealand, Jamie is a self taught artist whose work is produced in graphite pencil. The finest detail is achieved by etching fur or skin texture into the paper and then working over the top of it with darker tones of pencil. A large number of photographs are taken with up to ten pictures being used to create the composition of the drawing whilst also trying to capture The individual personality of the animal to be drawn.
Dare to Dabble
Choose from 2 sessions: 10.30am – 1.00pm or 2.00pm – 4.30pm
This workshop is a great introduction to using air drying clay and clay tools. After learning the basics you will make your very own clay vessel that you can take home to paint. Once it’s dry you could use it to keep all of your precious trinkets, your pencils or even a plant!
Bookable after 4th May.
Book Now
Artist in Residence
Ewan Anderson has had a lifetime interest in trees and drawing. During his career in geography he continued drawing particularly through cartography. Some of his research projects concerned trees. For example, in Oman he measured dewfall as a water source for Prosopis sp. trees.
Since his retirement from academe in 2001, Ewan has been working on his technique, drawing exclusively in the field (en plein air) and trying to balance the botanical and the artistic. In his drawings, Ewan hopes to encapsulate the spirit, character and gesture of the trees.