For a long time now I've admired the work of C.F. Tunnicliffe RA (1901-1979). He was a prolific book illustrator, which is
how I mostly knew his work but since I got hold of his biography
1 just after Christmas I've learnt that he produced so much more than those exquisite line drawings and watercolours.
Apart from his obvious draughtsmanship and beautifully understated and sensitive use of colour, I think the thing I love most about his work is his eye for design, the way he works a scene to create movement and interest on every area of the page.
Charles Tunnicliffe was born on a farm in Langley, Cheshire, near where my parents now live, and spent the early years of his marriage living in Whalley Range, Manchester, very near to where I now live. However, this is where all similarity ends, as he was an incredibly hardworking, prolific and observant artist who quickly rose to prominence and was seldom without work.
2 Some of his most well-known and loved illustrations were for Henry Williamson's beautiful book Tarka the Otter.
He has an incredible affinity for and understanding of the British countryside, and every single piece of his work seems to somehow embody the damp, earthy magic of this land which means so much to me.
He was never really happy in Manchester (hmm, perhaps we have more in common than I first thought) and in 1947 he moved to a little cottage overlooking the Cefni estuary on Anglesey where he painted and drew, drew and painted. The birds, the light, the water.
Tunnicliffe was devoted to accuracy, and over the years he built up a huge portfolio of measured post mortem drawings of birds and animals like these, with friends and neighbours often helping by delivering dead or frozen creatures to his house. Even in these purely technical reference works, his incredible genius for layout and design shines out.
Hopefully many of you will already know and love C.F. Tunnicliffe's work, but if not, I hope you've enjoyed this little introduction. You can see more of his drawings and illustrations as well as reading more about his life and the writers with whom he collaborated at the splendid website of the
Charles Tunnicliffe Society.
1 Ian Niall, Portrait of a Country Artist, London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 19802 This is not any kind of weird false modesty! I am a very slow worker who takes ages to process ideas, and usually have very little to show for time spent 'being creative'.All images belong of course to the estate of C.F. Tunnicliffe and as usual mustn't be reproduced or used for anything important.
I have been enjoying your comments so much and started to feel sad that only one of you could win, so I've decided to pick not one but three names from the hat on Sunday, and the two 'runners up' will be able to choose anything they like from the Mouse Shop!
My current project is a baby sized patchwork quilt. In keeping with my new year's resolution to use up fabric, yarn and so on from my stash, I'm piecing it together from unused hexagons left over from my Great Work (as yet still un-quilted I regret to say). I've chosen the softer, gentler colours and added a few new ones from some Liberty lawn that I've been saving for something special.
I am ready to move on to something different now, but many hours of choosing, cutting out, ironing, folding and stitching has gone into these lovelies.
Your finished patchwork will end up looking a bit like this (sans quilting)...
For those interested in the hat pattern mentioned in the post below, it is a 1936 beret pattern which can be found here.
For a long time now I've admired the work of C.F. Tunnicliffe RA (1901-1979). He was a prolific book illustrator, which is how I mostly knew his work but since I got hold of his biography 1 just after Christmas I've learnt that he produced so much more than those exquisite line drawings and watercolours.
Apart from his obvious draughtsmanship and beautifully understated and sensitive use of colour, I think the thing I love most about his work is his eye for design, the way he works a scene to create movement and interest on every area of the page.
Charles Tunnicliffe was born on a farm in Langley, Cheshire, near where my parents now live, and spent the early years of his marriage living in Whalley Range, Manchester, very near to where I now live. However, this is where all similarity ends, as he was an incredibly hardworking, prolific and observant artist who quickly rose to prominence and was seldom without work. 2 Some of his most well-known and loved illustrations were for Henry Williamson's beautiful book Tarka the Otter.
He has an incredible affinity for and understanding of the British countryside, and every single piece of his work seems to somehow embody the damp, earthy magic of this land which means so much to me.
He was never really happy in Manchester (hmm, perhaps we have more in common than I first thought) and in 1947 he moved to a little cottage overlooking the Cefni estuary on Anglesey where he painted and drew, drew and painted. The birds, the light, the water.
Tunnicliffe was devoted to accuracy, and over the years he built up a huge portfolio of measured post mortem drawings of birds and animals like these, with friends and neighbours often helping by delivering dead or frozen creatures to his house. Even in these purely technical reference works, his incredible genius for layout and design shines out.
Hopefully many of you will already know and love C.F. Tunnicliffe's work, but if not, I hope you've enjoyed this little introduction. You can see more of his drawings and illustrations as well as reading more about his life and the writers with whom he collaborated at the splendid website of the Charles Tunnicliffe Society.
It's difficult to think of many things more beautiful than birds. I saw these paper and wire pigeons in the window of 'Anthropologie' in New York last month and loved them. They were hard to photograph though.
And this morning we had five jays in our garden. The blue of a jay feather seems to me to be magical. If ever I find one lying on the ground, I feel like I have found treasure.
I am not a fan of Portmeirion and its Prisoner connections. Although I love 1960s Avengers episodes and early James Bond films I never quite understood The Prisoner's sinister quirkiness, although I am married to someone who really, really does.
The village and garden of Portmeirion, as everybody knows, was created near Portmadoc in North Wales by the crazy-wonderful Clough Williams-Ellis and later became very well known for the ceramics designed by his daughter (which I do rather like).
However, what hardly anyone knows is that Williams-Ellis also created another garden just up the road from Portmeirion which is smaller, more intimate and utterly magical. It is one of my all-time favourite gardens and it is called Plas Brondanw.
This is the estate that Clough Williams-Ellis inherited from his father and lived in until his death in 1978, and he put huge amounts of time, energy and money into creating and nurturing this secret garden full of ferns, worn stone steps, mosaics and painted ironwork, all tucked away on the side of a magical wooded hillside with the most breathtaking views of Snowdonia.
I have visited this garden and the surrounding woods and paths many many times and I think it is one of my happiest and most creative places to be. These pictures are from several years ago but I hope they convey something of the spirit of the place. You can see lots more here.
