Birds
of
Wales

Charles F Tunnicliffe OBE RA 1901-1979

• Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe grew up on a small farm at Sutton Lane Ends, on the edge of the Peak District in the beautiful countryside of East Cheshire. After studying at the Macclesfield and Manchester Schools of Art he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London, gaining his teaching diploma and a further scholarship to study in the RCA's new Etching and Engraving School, and in 1923 he was awarded a diploma with distinction. He stayed on in London to teach and develop a career as an etcher and engraver, producing some of his finest etchings during that time.
• In 1928 he returned to Cheshire and bought a house in Macclesfield, married Winifred Wonnacott (a fellow student at the Royal College of Art) and set about earning a living from commercial artwork, much of it for the farming industry.
• In the 1930's he became a much-acclaimed book illustrator by creating excellent wood engraving illustrations for several authors - in particular for Henry Williamson's "Tarka the Otter", "Salar the Salmon", "The Star Born", "The Old Stag" and "The Peregrine's Saga", and also for Mary Priestley's "A Book of Birds". Between 1928 and 1978 he was a regular contributor to the Royal Academy of Arts' Summer Exhibitions, being elected as an associate in 1944 and becoming a full Royal Academician in 1954. He took great pride in exhibiting his watercolours and wood engravings at the Royal Academy of Arts, and afterwards completing many private commissions for people who admired his work. In 1974 his personal reference collection of measured drawings of animals and birds was shown in a much-acclaimed "Members Exhibition" at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
• Charles and Winifred moved from Macclesfield to Anglesey in 1947, to live at Shorelands in Malltraeth, where he lived until his death in 1979. Sadly, after a long illness, Winifred died in 1969 and from then on Charles found life hard going without her encouragement, help and support.
• Charles Tunnicliffe was a very skilled artist in a wide range of media. His scraperboard work was used to illustrate books, as well as for various magazine stories and commercial advertisements. His output was prodigious, but to those who knew him well he is remembered for his exceptional kindness, modesty and generosity. The RSPB awarded him a Gold Medal in 1975, and he was honoured with an OBE in 1978.

Kim Atkinson

• Kim lives on the westernmost tip of Pen Llŷn which provides the subject for her work. Since her childhood on Ynys Enlly and then in Cornwall, and the encouragement of her family whose interest in natural history has been a constant inspiration, Kim has been fascinated by birds in particular. Their place in the environment and their interactions and more recently the sounds they make in the wider soundscape, form the basis of an ongoing enquiry. The starting point for all her work is the detail and intricacies of the natural environment, its shape sound and texture, and notes and drawings made outside often using binoculars.
• Studio work often involves more than one medium. Monoprint is the method by which oil-based inks in this case are transferred to paper from card or plastic sheet and which leads to layering and scratched lines, odd textures.
• In some of the more recent work there is a process of listening rather than looking that has underpinned ongoing enquiry: the "sound drawings" with keys to interpret abstract marks were made in situ over time periods usually half an hour. Those shown were made in the garden and at different seasons. Kim keeps a "sounds notebook" where marks and writing record seasonal changes and the noises made by different insects such as grasshoppers. Some of these marks have found their way into paintings.

Mandy Coates

• Starting as a traditional basket maker, weaving essentially practical, functional baskets, I now enjoy using these techniques to be more creative and contemporary with my own designs.
• I have been basket making for over 25 years, growing my own willow, giving me a palette of many coloured barks to contrast with other hedgerow materials, plaited bulrushes and laths of different woods such as yew, ash and sweet chestnut.
• The natural cycle of my materials – the growing, gathering and seasoning – shape the pattern and timing of my work.

Ian Davie

• During his childhood Ian Davie had an avid, hands-on fascination of local flora and fauna and he has been lucky enough to work in daily contact with wildlife in some of Britain's most beautiful, natural scenic environments; on a farm, as a gamekeeper and for the environment agency.
• His extensive knowledge gained over many years is now skilfully employed when painting. Having a desire to find a natural and sustainable 'canvas' led Ian to paint on a swan's feather he had picked up some years earlier. All feathers now come from a bird reserve where the wardens collect them from the ground during the swan's annual moult. Foremost a conservationist, Ian is proud that for each feather used a generous donation is made towards the reserve.
• Ian has paintings in the permanent National Collection of Wildlife Art and has been awarded the prestigious Gold Citation by The Wildlife Art Society International for 3 consecutive years.

John & Marilyn Davies

• John carves birds in wood, enjoying their shape in the hand, and the coast is vital to him. Living near an estuary at Prestatyn, and influenced by the artist Charles Tunnicliffe, he favours shore birds.
• He began woodcarving in 1977 after a year in Michigan where he relished contact with the American decoy tradition. During further year-long visits, he worked with carvers in Washington and Utah.
• In time his wife Marilyn joined him and he has learned to appreciate her use of colours, particularly their mutedness, her eye for shape and, generally, her role as trusted advisor. She uses a pyrography tool to suggest the texture of the feathers, followed by thin washes of acrylic paint.
• As Birds in the Wood, they currently sell mainly at two other galleries, Erwood Station Gallery near Builth Wells and the Jetty Gallery, Oban, in Scotland.

Katie Scarlett Howard 1978-2017

• My sculptures are an exploration into the human form. I have worked as a full time professional ceramic artist for the last 16 years and I am still learning everyday about form, scale, texture, proportion, glaze and colour. My current research into the human condition and it's relationship with local welsh birds has allowed my work to travel in new directions, bringing together for the first time the bird form and the human figure together in my sculptures, choosing clays such as Premium Craft Crank, red grogged clay and course Raku to contrast with the smoothness of the finished stoneware glazes and oxides such as copper oxide, red iron oxide and manganese Dioxide overlayered with underglaze and translucent glaze.
• I keep my figures deliberately chunky in scale, often giving them larger hands and feet.All my figures are hollow and based on cylindrical tubes, so the clay can be manipulated from the inside, once the basic form is constructed. The sculptures are firstly bisque fired to 1000 degrees C and then once the application of colour is complete, then they will be refired to 1200 C.
• This is a style I have developed over time and feel lends itself to the themes I have chosen to focus on in the past such as fisherwomen or the working trades like the woollen industry. I hope my figures portray both strength and humour, but also something familiar to the viewer, exploring the texture of the birds and the positioning with the figure.

Jeff Hughes

• I was born and educated in Holyhead, and after my A-levels; at Liverpool College of Art 1970-71, then Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry, Faculty of Art and Design 1971 - 1972.
• Returned to Anglesey to work at Anglesey Aluminium 1972 -1981.
• Then self employed from 1981 - 1998, creating metalwork, gates, weather vanes and bird sculpture.
• Illness then forced a return to 'proper' work at RAF Valley in 1998 - Search & Rescue from 2000 - 2015 - the end of RAF Search & Rescue.
• I still worked on metalwork commissions during this period.
• My main inspiration is in ornithological subjects that I try to portray accurately and with as lifelike an appearance as possible within the constraints of the material used.
• Steel, stainless steel, copper, bronze and brass are the main materials used.and subjects are generally constructed from many smaller parts.

Jayne Huskisson

• Jayne is an award-winning textile artist living near Rhosneigr on the Isle of Anglesey.  A graduate in Fashion/Textile Design BA(Hons), Jayne initially worked as a fashioner designer before specialising in textiles.  Much of her work captures the beautiful surrounding landscape with a contemporary twist.  She has an evident love of bright and bold colours and is attracted to the tactility of texture; whether a vibrant palette of painted silk or a collage of stitched appliqué, both are encapsulated by simplicity of line in Jayne’s artwork. Her style is naïve yet shows a sophistication and assurance in design with careful execution which she has developed over the last 20 years.
• In this recent body of work she has been particularly inspired by the exquisite work of Charles Tunnicliffe, from the meticulous detail in his measured drawings to the strong use of colour and design in his final compositions.
• Jayne has exhibited in Ireland and throughout Wales with work held in private collections across the world.

Duncan Kitson

• I am a self taught Chainsaw Sculptor born, raised and still residing on the North West coast of Anglesey. After spending my early working years felling trees in Newborough Forest, I discovered that it was far more rewarding to carve trees instead of cut them down.
• Inspired by my natural environment, the beauty of the coastal landscape, it's wildlife and the ever changing sea and western sky, my work is mostly calm, peacful and tactile, unlike the raging storm of the chainsaw that created it!
• The unique and original qualities of my work lie in the design, engineering, symetry and movement of my sculptures.
• With over thirty years expericence, I have represented Wales and Great Britain in many International Wood and Snow Sculpture symposiums and competitions. My work can be seen throughout the UK, Europe, Canada and the USA.

Valériane Leblond

• Valériane Leblond is a French and Quebecker artist who has lived in Wales since 2007.
• She was instantly charmed by the landscapes and architecture of her new home; the green hills which fuse into the sea, the large Cardigan Bay, its cliffs and beaches of smooth pebbles, its trees which have been bent with the wind, the small whitewashed cottages.
• The local way of life is also an inspiration to her; the country folk, the fishermen, the housewives, those who live off the land, from the sea, and through their efforts and perseverance.
• Valériane's artworks are usually painted with oil on wooden panels, or with gouache on fabriano paper. Her careful work draws on the natural world and the traditional Welsh way of life. She uses very fine brushes while painting. Going for walks always provides new findings and is an inspiration to her. She loses herself amidst the wild plants and animals, the old cottages and ruins, the aspects and colours which are so unique to this beautiful part of the world.
• She loves working on textures, colours and patterns.

Ann Lewis

• My linocuts speak about the way I see the landscape. I hope to convey a sense of place to those who look at my work but I am equally happy if people find things in the work which are personal to them.
• I don't simply want to replicate a view. I am always drawn to trying to capture the impact of weather on the landscape – a fleeting moment of light, a chill in the air, the warmth of the sun, an approaching storm.
• An important part of the way I work is the preparation and planning. I might visit a place several times before opening a sketchbook to make preparatory drawings for a print. Once started, a multi-coloured linocut can take between 3 to 5 weeks to complete.
• The majority of my linocuts use the reduction method. This is a technique where a multi-coloured image is made using a single block of lino. Through a series of progressive cutting, inking, and printing stages, the image slowly emerges whilst the block is 'reduced' and in essence destroyed. A print edition created using the reduction method can therefore never be reprinted.

Eric Peake

• Birds and art have always been an integral part of Eric’s life. His early work was mainly done in pencil. He is a graduate of Keele University at Alsagar College obtaining a M. Education degree followed by a diploma at Manchester University. During this time he also pursued his interest in painting birds. In 1975, he left the teaching profession to become a professional bird artist. Eric’s concern for endangered/brink of extinction birds led him to concentrate his artwork for many years specifically on parrots.
• Now an internationally acclaimed professional UK bird artist, Eric Peake has completed over 1600 highly detailed watercolour paintings since 1976. Major accomplishments include:
• A commission for H.R.H. Princess of Wales, Princess Diana;
• Featured artist at the Hotel Botanico, Tenerife, Spain where 900 limited edition prints hang along with originals in the Loro Parque corporate art collection;
• Original painting, ‘Spix’s Macaws’ chosen for the Loro Parque Foundation logo;
• A six year project featuring 40 paintings and 50 pencil drawings for the limited edition collector’s book, ‘Monograph of Macaws and Conures’ published in Canada;
• Avid author and illustrator for many worldwide avian related publications;
• Twice featured artist at SEWE, the largest international wildlife art exhibition in Charleston, South Carolina, USA along with exhibiting 17 times;
• Founding member of NEWA exhibiting all 24 years along with 285 other art shows internationally;
• A 25 year retrospective exhibition celebrating ‘Birds in Art’ in 2001 at the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, England;
• ‘African Grey Parrots’ original painting is part of the permanent collection at the Appleton Museum of Art, Florida, USA.
• To date donations of his artwork have raised over £315,000 for international charities.
• In 2016, the National Library of Wales archived www.ericpeake.co.uk for future generations.
• Eric has been honoured in the USA, Canada and UK for his outstanding contributions to his nation and for artistic and avian related achievements. As a Welsh artist, Eric now concentrates on European and British birds still with the emphasis on endangered species, always remembering that extinction is forever. He continues to exhibit and lecture internationally illustrating his passion for birds.

Anwen Roberts

• Painting is a way of life for me, but so also is farming. I use one to fuel the other, drawing inspiration from these experiences, of the many diverse aspects of the agricultural and rural environment in which I live. For this exhibition I have concentrated on birds, be it wild or farmed. I have endeavoured to capture some of the birds I encounter in my life through my paintings.

Suzette Smart

• The landscape, a sentence jotted down or sometimes the very material itself is what inspires and directs my work. Through words, sentences and drawings in my sketchbooks, the ideas and stories are developed further.
• From my reserves of inherited and found materials, I took a 1952 Rose Queen sash, to infuse a little bit of nostalgia into a piece. With it's own history and tale ready to unfold, it became the foundation for "and I wear my sash with pride" and a further three pieces.
• Occasionally, I approach my own embroideries in much the same way as these materials. Cutting them up and reassembling them to add a further chapter. Aderyn Bach Syw (trad) was such an embroidery. At first it was a paddock filled with thistles and seeds, which I took, cut up and made into a childs' dress. I used one of my own childhood dresses for a pattern. The title, Aderyn Bach Syw, (little laden bird) is that of a traditional Welsh nursery rhyme. The first line of the rhyme can be found stitched into the dress.
• As I am building up the layers of a story, the same is happening with thread and fabric. With small and large sweeping stitches, colours and textures are blended, and birds, words and thistles come to life.

Philip Snow

• I have been painting (and writing) full-time, mainly concerning Wildlife and Landscape, for 40 years, following a wild decade of occupations from 'Soul' singer and 'Art' student to drilling rigger and chef; baker to paving stone maker, and failed cliff-diver to long-term hospital patient! Fortunately this at least left me with the determination and adaptability to work for many different publishers and galleries. I was also blessed to be able to return to college to complete the BA I had dropped out of – twice – in the crazy '60s.
• Since then I have contributed illustrations or covers to well over 70 Books (including Collins Field Guides), many Magazines, Prints, Card, Nature Reserve Maps, Signs and Leaflets, etc; and sold hundreds of 'Gallery Paintings' and Commissions to various Public and Private bodies, including HRH Prince Charles, the Welsh Assembly and Oriel Ynys Môn.
• In recent years I have also been privileged to both write and illustrate my own books, and they include, 'Light and Flight – Hebridean Wildlife and Landscape Sketchbook'; 'Tall Tales from an Estuary', and 'The Design and Origin of Birds', which reflects my 'other' consuming passion, the Bible. I am currently working on a children's book about the North Wales Owl Trust's tiny Scops Owl and its SE Asian jungle habitat; an Anglesey Wildlife book, and a modest trilogy of novels about escaping the coming 'Heat Death' of the Universe...

Meic Watts

• Meic was fortunate in being apprenticed to the sculptor Jonah Jones after leaving art college. Jonah introduced him to lettercutting and carving in the local slates of North Wales and various other stones. Meic had worked on Public Art commissions and residencies for many years often involving the local communities and teaching stone carving in schools, but had to stop due to illness. He is now working again and using mainly locally-sourced stone; these are either quarried or chosen from those stones shaped and left by the glaciers that created much of the North Wales landscape. The variety of different stones and the way they have already been worn and shaped is the inspiration for many of the birds and animals he carves. Their forms are suggested by the stones themselves. He also works with other materials and media but is always drawn back to stone.

Eileen Williams

• Eileen is a Felt Artist living in Valley on the Isle of Anglesey.
• Eileen's experimentation in creativity led her to hand needle felting just a few years ago. Although she's enjoying learning with every project and already shows true expertise and professionalism in her field, with great attention to detail, knowledge and exquisite craftsmanship.
• Eileen's creatures, felted in sheep's wool, capture the very essence of the natural wildlife in the countryside that surrounds her. These portraits from nature are often set within a diorama to create a story, with Eileen liking to make both realistic and quirky scenes.
• Eileen works on commission and also exhibits locally at craft fairs. She holds hand needle felting workshops and gives talks about her work.
• Eileen is a member of The International Felt makers Association and The Gwynedd & Clwyd Association of Craft workers.

Owen Williams

• Growing up as a young lad fishing and shooting on a Cardiganshire hill farm Owen has always been fascinated by wildlife and landscape. His early years of drawing birds were greatly inspired by the art of Archibold Thorburn, Charles Tunnicliffe and the atmospheric wildfowling landscapes of Peter Scott.
• After 8 years working in advertising in London, Owen returned to his family home in 1985 with his wife and young family to start his career as an artist. Today his work is hung in collections throughout the UK, USA, and Europe.
• His art has been published in numerous books and periodicals, and he co-authored the Artists Impressions series of books on Woodcock, Grouse and Deer.
• Owen is a keen bird ringer specialising on woodcock, a species which has featured greatly in his art over the years. Since 2008 he has ringed over 1500, and is closely involved in the groundbreaking research into the species being conducted by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. Recently the sales of his woodcock bronzes have funded the purchase of 10 tags which Owen has fitted to woodcock on his study site in West Wales.

Val Worden

• Spiritus Liberta Collection
• C.F.Tunnicliffe's genius as an Artist, lay in his belief that 'a work of Art should have its own particular claim to be beautiful not because it slavishly imitated the form and colour of a bird but because it had used the bird and controlled it to make a new beauty' A philosophy which both inspires and aligns entirely with my modus operandi - to capture the bird's pure essence, its animation or 'Jizz' as T.A.Coward so succinctly observed, its elemental nature, its soul. An ethos which aligns with mans' intense longing to re-connect with Nature and this Avian symbol of liberty and immortality.
• As the Tao infers-
• And The Bird Sang -
• The Song of the Soul - such a sweet sound
• That rang through Eternity.