Charles Tunnicliffe

When I lived in Bangor, North Wales in the 1970's it was only when I visited the Tegfryn Gallery in Menai Bridge that I saw my first original watercolour painting by the renowned wildlife arist Charles Tunnicliffe. I must admit that he was not known to me probably because my life and head were filled with antique maps and prints and running a business in Watergate Street, Chester over 50 miles away. And in those days the car journey from Bangor to Chester was so different as it is now. The St. Aspah bye-pass existed but that was the only piece of dual carriageway on the journey. Getting into a low gear and ascending the St. Aspah hill was always an adventure.

The original Tunnicliffe painting I saw that day was of a Siamese Cat modestly priced at about £50 or so. It hung on a wall with paintings by another celebreated artist Kyffin Williams. Both of them lived on the island of Angeley. Tunniclife in the village of Malltraeth where my father visited him one day at his home "Shorelands". In those days you could commission a full size painting from Charles for £250. He chose the subject "Shelduck and Young". I think it was about 4 or 5 weeks later that the telephone rang to say the painting was ready for collection. My father visited him a number of times and bought a collection of scraperboards that were used to illustrate one of Alison Uttley's books.

I had the chance to go with my father on one of his visits and saw where this great artist worked. I seem to remember the studio was in a front room perhaps on the left of the front door. There was Charles seated on a wheeled typist's chair painting using an easel. I began to realise that Charles used a system of making preparatory drawings first on tracing paper and adding watercolour. These drawings were then used to prepare a full watercolour on paper. I still have the two preparatory drawings I bought that day.

The typists chair allowed Charles to move around the uncarpeted studio with ease. There were preparatory drawings everywhere and some had managed to fall onto the floor. I winced then and I still wince now as I think of the chair wheels mainly missing the drawings but not always.

Another great occassion was when I visited the Mostyn Gallery in Llandudno. Looking at the internet I see it is recorded as being in 1980, a year after Charles Tunicliffe died. Seeing so much of his work brought together just blew my mind and made me realise what an amazing wildlife painter I had the privelege to meet.

The photograph was taken by my father C. L. Nicholson on one of his visits to Malltraeth