Charles Tunnicliffe's career as a wildlife painter began growing up in Cheshire and the surrounding countryside. Highly acclaimed for his range of subject, vibrant palette and sense of design, he is considered one of the foremost British wildlife artists of the twentieth century. He studied at Macclesfield and Manchester art schools, winning a Royal Exhibition Scholarship to the Royal College of Art 1921-5. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, first as an engraver, then as a painter and was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1944. His search for tranquility at the heart of nature took him to Anglesey in 1947. From his studio at Shorelands he could look out across the Cefni Estuary towards Newborough Forest, and the mountains of Snowdonia. He was made a full Royal Academician in 1954. Over 40 years he illustrated more than 80 full-length books including Henry Williamson's Tarka the Otter, published his own books and produced a variety of commercial work. He drew many postmortem, measured studies of birds which were exhibited at the RA in 1974. He was the Vice-President of the RSPB and their Gold Medal winner, and he received an OBE in 1978. Examples of his work can be found in important public collections including The Ashmolean Museum, The Fitzwilliam Museum, National Museum Cardiff and Manchester Art Gallery.