Lil Tudor-Craig
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth J. "Lil" Tudor-Craig (born 1960), is a British
conservationist, environmental art
ist, and literary illustrator from Suffolk
. She is known for her murals and watercolour paintings, specialising in finely detailed impressionist work, presenting a wide-ranging knowledge of wild botanical species and the insects and birds they support through the cycle of life. She has held one-person exhibitions in Aldeburgh
(1986), Aldgate
, London
(1987); Lewes
(2001, 2010), and Suffolk (2010).
In addition to her fine art and conservation interests, Tudor-Craig served as illustrator of The Flora: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose, along with compiler, Fiona MacMath.
. Her mother is the mediaeval art historian Lady Pamela Wedgwood
, (née Wynne-Reeves). When Tudor-Craig's father died in 1969, the family moved from Suffolk to London, where her mother remained unmarried for the next 13 years. In 1982, she married Sir John Wedgwood, 2nd Baronet, of the Wedgwood
pottery family, but was again widowed in 1989.
Tudor-Craig was raised with an appreciation for fine art and literature. While her father had a distinguished career as a museum curator, her mother was the well-known art historian, Lady Pamela Wedgwood, curator of the Richard III
exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in 1973.
Counted among Tudor-Craig's childhood friends, were British sculptor and master stonecarver Simon Verity
, along with the English architect
, landscape architect
, and garden designer
, Oliver Hill
. During her childhood, Tudor-Craig began to develop environmental interests and concern for sustainable, humane and wildlife-friendly farming methods. When she was 11 years old, she joined the Soil Association
and the National Society for the Abolition of Factory Farming. In continuing pursuit of her conservation interests, she left school when she was 17 years old and began working on local family farms. In 1979, she earned a National Certificate in Agriculture.
, who encouraged her to foster her talent and consider pursuing a career in fine art, specifically, painting, drawing, and printmaking, utilising her background and expertise in environmental, botanical, and wildlife studies. She wouldn't pursue these interests in a full-time capacity for almost 20 years.
, River Corridor, and Coastal Plant surveys in Suffolk and Essex
.
While Tudor-Craig held one-person exhibitions in Aldeburgh in 1986, along with Aldgate and London the following year, it wasn't until 2000, that she began to work exclusively on her paintings. She specialises in the use of egg tempera, pure pigment
combined with water and egg yolk
. Under these conditions, the paint can only be prepared in small quantities, due to quick drying. This paint is then applied over gesso
on birch-plywood panels
. While this process can take up to four months to complete, the technique allows for intense colours and finely detailed work, enhancing the artist's impressionistic style.
Tudor-Craig's principal body of work is enhanced through her environmental background in agriculture and wildlife conservation. Outside of occasional commissions for murals and watercolour paintings, her work focuses on presenting native species of wild plants and the creatures they support.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
conservationist, environmental art
Environmental art
The term environmental art is used in two different contexts: it can be used generally to refer to art dealing with ecological issues and/or the natural, such as the formal, the political, the historical, or the social context....
ist, and literary illustrator from Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. She is known for her murals and watercolour paintings, specialising in finely detailed impressionist work, presenting a wide-ranging knowledge of wild botanical species and the insects and birds they support through the cycle of life. She has held one-person exhibitions in Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh is a coastal town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. Located on the River Alde, the town is notable for its Blue Flag shingle beach and fisherman huts where freshly caught fish are sold daily, and the Aldeburgh Yacht Club...
(1986), Aldgate
Aldgate
Aldgate was the eastern most gateway through London Wall leading from the City of London to Whitechapel and the east end of London. Aldgate gives its name to a ward of the City...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(1987); Lewes
Lewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
(2001, 2010), and Suffolk (2010).
In addition to her fine art and conservation interests, Tudor-Craig served as illustrator of The Flora: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose, along with compiler, Fiona MacMath.
Personal background
Tudor-Craig was born in Suffolk in 1960. She is the only daughter of James Tudor-Craig, son of Sir Algernon Tudor-CraigAlgernon Tudor-Craig
Major Sir Algernon Tudor-Craig KBE FSA was a British Army officer, heraldist and author of various works on art history, especially armorial porcelain.His first wife, whom he married in 1898, was Emily Mary Lukin...
. Her mother is the mediaeval art historian Lady Pamela Wedgwood
Pamela Tudor-Craig
Pamela Tudor-Craig, Lady Wedgwood FSA is a British mediaeval art historian. Outside of academia she is best known for her contribution to the 1986 TV series The Secret Life of Paintings and its accompanying book of the same name with Richard Foster...
, (née Wynne-Reeves). When Tudor-Craig's father died in 1969, the family moved from Suffolk to London, where her mother remained unmarried for the next 13 years. In 1982, she married Sir John Wedgwood, 2nd Baronet, of the Wedgwood
Wedgwood
Wedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...
pottery family, but was again widowed in 1989.
Tudor-Craig was raised with an appreciation for fine art and literature. While her father had a distinguished career as a museum curator, her mother was the well-known art historian, Lady Pamela Wedgwood, curator of the Richard III
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in 1973.
Counted among Tudor-Craig's childhood friends, were British sculptor and master stonecarver Simon Verity
Simon Verity
Simon Verity is a British sculptor and master stonecarver. Much of his work has been garden sculpture. He has works in the private collections of the Prince of Wales, Sir Elton John, and Lord Rothschild.-Career:...
, along with the English architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, landscape architect
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....
, and garden designer
Garden designer
The term garden designer can refer either to an amateur or a professional who designs the plan and features of gardens. Amateurs design their gardens for their own properties. Professionals, with experienced skills, design gardens that benefit clients...
, Oliver Hill
Oliver Hill
Oliver White Hill, Sr. was a civil rights attorney from Richmond, Virginia. His work against racial discrimination helped end the doctrine of "separate but equal." He also helped win landmark legal decisions involving equality in pay for black teachers, access to school buses, voting rights, jury...
. During her childhood, Tudor-Craig began to develop environmental interests and concern for sustainable, humane and wildlife-friendly farming methods. When she was 11 years old, she joined the Soil Association
Soil Association
The Soil Association is a charity based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1946, it has over 27,000 members today. Its activities include campaign work on issues including opposition to intensive farming, support for local purchasing and public education on nutrition; as well the certification of...
and the National Society for the Abolition of Factory Farming. In continuing pursuit of her conservation interests, she left school when she was 17 years old and began working on local family farms. In 1979, she earned a National Certificate in Agriculture.
Professional background
In 1981, Tudor-Craig was taught briefly by Cecil CollinsCecil Collins
Cecil Collins was an English artist originally associated with the Surrealist movement.He was born in Plymouth and worked first as a mechanic at a firm based in Devonport. From 1924 to 1927 he attended Plymouth School of Art...
, who encouraged her to foster her talent and consider pursuing a career in fine art, specifically, painting, drawing, and printmaking, utilising her background and expertise in environmental, botanical, and wildlife studies. She wouldn't pursue these interests in a full-time capacity for almost 20 years.
Environmental conservation
In 1984, she moved back to Suffolk and began training in river navigation. In 1990, she gained the Advanced National Certificate in Wildlife Conservation, specialising in biological surveying and for three years, taught wild plant identification. At this time, she also worked on the National Rivers AuthorityNational Rivers Authority
The National Rivers Authority was one of the forerunners of the Environment Agency of England and Wales, existing between 1989 and 1996. Before 1989 the regulation of the aquatic environment had largely been carried out by the ten Regional Water Authorities...
, River Corridor, and Coastal Plant surveys in Suffolk and Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
.
Fine art background
Trained formally in farming and wildlife conservation, Tudor-Craig has been committed to painting since the early 1980s.While Tudor-Craig held one-person exhibitions in Aldeburgh in 1986, along with Aldgate and London the following year, it wasn't until 2000, that she began to work exclusively on her paintings. She specialises in the use of egg tempera, pure pigment
Pigment
A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.Many materials selectively absorb...
combined with water and egg yolk
Egg yolk
An egg yolk is a part of an egg which feeds the developing embryo. The egg yolk is suspended in the egg white by one or two spiral bands of tissue called the chalazae...
. Under these conditions, the paint can only be prepared in small quantities, due to quick drying. This paint is then applied over gesso
Gesso
Gesso is a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these...
on birch-plywood panels
Panel painting
A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel made of wood, either a single piece, or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, it was the normal form of support for a painting not on a wall or vellum, which was used for...
. While this process can take up to four months to complete, the technique allows for intense colours and finely detailed work, enhancing the artist's impressionistic style.
Tudor-Craig's principal body of work is enhanced through her environmental background in agriculture and wildlife conservation. Outside of occasional commissions for murals and watercolour paintings, her work focuses on presenting native species of wild plants and the creatures they support.
"Many insects depend on a single plant species. Without the caterpillar's food plant, there will be no butterflies. Brambles and stinging nettles especially support large numbers of butterflies and other creatures, some of which live only on these plants. In my paintings, I seek to represent these relationships, this inter-connectedness."
—Lil Tudor-Craig
Featured works
- 2004 – "Nettle Bed" 18" x 24" (45.5 x 61 cm)
- 2005 – "Meadow at Butley" 18" x 24" (45.5 x 61 cm)
- 2007 – "Rose & Honeysuckle" 18" x 24" (45.5 x 61 cm)
- 2007 – "Sea Wormwood" 18" x 24" (45.5 x 61 cm)
- 2008 – "Ribwort Plantain" 18" x 24" (45.5 x 61 cm)
- 2008 – "Hawthorn" 18" x 24" (45.5 x 61 cm)
Exhibitions
- 1986 – AldeburghAldeburghAldeburgh is a coastal town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. Located on the River Alde, the town is notable for its Blue Flag shingle beach and fisherman huts where freshly caught fish are sold daily, and the Aldeburgh Yacht Club...
- 1987 – AldgateAldgateAldgate was the eastern most gateway through London Wall leading from the City of London to Whitechapel and the east end of London. Aldgate gives its name to a ward of the City...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... - 2001 – LewesLewesLewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
- 2008 – London, Francis Kyle Gallery
- 2010 – Lewes, Linklater Pavilion, "Ecology into Art"
- 2010 – Suffolk, Golden Road, "Reflected Glories"
Published works
- Macmath, Fiona (compiler); Lil Tudor-Craig (illustrator). The Flora: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose, Chariot Victor Publications, (October 1990). ISBN 978-0745918402
Further reading
- Simper, Robert. Creekside Tales: Life on the East Coast of England, Creekside Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-9538506-5X