Artist in Residence
Ann Swan works primarily in graphite and coloured pencil and is well known for her exquisitely fine detail, vibrant colours and strong contemporary style. She champions the underdog in the plant world, drawing our attention to Brussels sprouts or beetroots feeling they are just as beautiful as the iris or tulip. She is passionate about coloured pencils believing they are easy to master, forgiving and accessible so that even a complete beginner can quite quickly produce work of quality.
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’.
Artist in Residence
Clare Robertson, artist blacksmith, works under the creative name of ‘MissFire’.
Inspiration for many of her pieces comes from the beauty of the natural world. Her ability to imagine, design and manufacture pieces that satisfy the specific requirements and personal tastes of her customers has resulted in a vibrant collection of exciting, and often functional, works of art.
Meet woodcarver, sculptor and furniture maker Peter Walwin together with metal worker Clare Robertson. Peter and Clare have produced work together. Perter has work in the Nature in Art collection. www.peterwalwin.co.uk
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.
Art Course
with Ann Swan 10am – 5pm
Maximum Participants: 12
In this 2-day course you will learn how to create deep, vivid but clean colours without compromising the form of the plant. You will be able to say ‘goodbye’ to muddy colours, as Ann will show you how to choose accurate colours for layering and shading without losing the brilliance of the colour.
You will also learn in which order to apply techniques such as resist, underpainting and embossing and the importance of planning your approach to coloured pencil work.
By the end of the course you will be able to use the techniques demonstrated, to tackle
multiple coloured and textured plant material with confidence.
Course Cost
Members: £80
Non-members: £100
Course Suitability: Beginners – Advanced
ART COURSE BOOKING FORM
Artist’s Profile
Ann is an internationally acclaimed botanical artist and teacher, passionate about drawing and the use of coloured pencils for botanical portraits.
She is also the author of ‘Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils’. With four RHS Gold Medals, she is an accomplished teacher always evolving and incorporating new techniques into her work which she is happy to share with her students.
www.annswan.co.uk
Barry Walding is a Gloucestershire based painter renowned for his paintings of wildlife. His preferred medium is oil. He also is renowned for his aviation and railway paintings. This is a change from our previously advertised programme.
Natalie’s paintings are intricate portraits of flowers and seeds, meticulously detailed yet often large in scale. Natalie has exhibited her paintings throughout Great Britain including the Royal Academy. www.natalietoplass.com
Art Course
with Liz Robertson 10am – 5pm
Maximum Participants: 12
The aim of this 2-day course is to produce a triptych landscape, based on a photograph or sketch of your choice. Triptych is a popular format for depicting landscapes and will add dynamism to your work.
Liz will firstly teach you several methods of printing and you will be able to make print blocks to your own design. You will then have the chance to embellish your print with different types of stitch techniques. To finish, you will then have the option to add beads and other small objects to your piece.
Course Cost
Members: £80
Non-members: £100
Course Suitability: Absolute Beginners – Improvers
ART COURSE BOOKING FORM
Materials List
Please bring a photograph or image that you wish to base your landscape on.
All materials will be supplied by Liz Robertson, at the cost of £5 per participant, payable directly to her on the day.
Artist’s Profile
Liz Robertson is an exhibiting textile artist. Her work uses a variety of textile media and techniques. The inspiration for Liz’s work comes from her love of natural landscape.
Liz is a teacher with over 35 years teaching experience in schools, colleges and adult education settings. She delivers textile and art workshops at various locations throughout the UK.
facebook.com/All-Things-Textile-by-Liz-Robertson
Alan Bennett has been inspired by landscape and trees since his formative years. His recent work deals with imagery of trees, woodland and the relationship of people and the land.