Cliff Towler
Donkey Standing
Acrylic & Oils
Framed 50cm wide x 60cm high
£625 - SOLD
Stag Sitting
Acrylic & Oils
Framed 49cm wide x 49cm high
£525
Donkey
Acrylic & Oils
Framed 50cm wide x 60cm high
£625
Badger
Acrylic
Framed 47cm wide x 47cm high
£500 - SOLD
Oystercatcher At Sunset
Acrylic
Framed 47cm wide x 57.5cm high
£625
Otters
Acrylic
Framed 57.5cm wide x 47cm high
£625 - SOLD
Running Brown Hare
Acrylic
Framed 82.5cm wide x 57.5cm high
£1,000
Wading Avocet
Acrylic
Framed 77.5cm wide x 57.5cm high
£850
Two Avocets At Sunset
Acrylic
Framed 68cm wide x 58cm high
£900 - SOLD
Two Avocets
Acrylic
Framed 57.5cm wide x 47cm high
£625
Puffin
Acrylic
Framed 57.5cm wide x 57.5cm high
£750 - SOLD
Avocet In Flight
Acrylic
Framed 78cm wide x 78cm high
£1,095
Barn Owl
Acrylic
Framed 92.5cm wide x 78cm high
£1,295 - SOLD
Stag At Sunrise
Acrylic
Framed 116.5cm wide x 86.5cm high
£1,950
Barn Owl In Spring
Acrylic
Framed 92.5cm wide x 78cm high
£1,295
Otters 2
Acrylic
Framed 57.5cm wide x 49.5cm high
£625 - SOLD
3 Puffins
Acrylic
Framed 56.5cm wide x 46.5cm high
£625 - SOLD
2 Otters (3)
Acrylic
Framed 46.5cm wide x 56.5cm high
£625
About Artist Cliff Towler
“My work is my life. Everywhere I have been, everything I have seen and everything I have done is reflected in my interpretations of the world in wildlife, animal and bird paintings and portraits,”
Cliff Towler’s work has been displayed in many galleries over the years. His success secret is simple: do what you love… He loves painting studies of local wildlife. Avocets, oystercatchers, puffins resting on the rocks in Purbeck, or an osprey catching its prey. His detailed, vibrantly coloured and gentle paintings capture the animals in movement.
“I enjoy capturing animals in action, in a unique moment,” Cliff said. During his long observational walks around Dorset, he built a big database of reference photography for his realistic paintings. Sometimes, he sits in a bird’s hide with a long lens camera waiting for the perfect reference shots.
He gained inspiration for his creative direction during an outdoor painting trip with his brother, Dorset landscape artist Graham Towler. “We were painting near Swanage, and I was working on a landscape scene. I raised my eyes and I saw terns flying over my head. Their flight, their movement captured my imagination,” he said.
Cliff’s preferred media are watercolour and acrylic.
Born in 1957 in Poole, Dorset, Cliff always intended to choose a creative vocation. In his teenage years he worked an apprenticeship in a local silk screen printing shop. “I enjoyed it there, and I would have continued learning the skills. But unfortunately the business closed down and I had to reconsider my career,” he said.
He chose to study illustration, life drawing and art history at the Arts University Bournemouth. “In the ’70’s discovered it was a very vibrant way to earn money. I could be creative and work on a variety of projects. But being creative is not enough. You have to think how to earn a living.
After art school, Cliff worked as a freelance illustrator, creating artwork for advertising agencies and printers. He briefly worked as a technical illustrator for Airbus Industries in Bremen, Germany.
ART BUSINESS STARTS IN THE GARDEN SHED
While a student, Cliff sat down around the family’s dining table and dotted business ideas for starting an advertising agency, Creative Studios. His first studio was a garden shed. Modest beginnings for a family-run business that became a go-to agency for the world’s biggest travel brands.
A big leap forward for the business was when Cliff designed a low airfare advert for travel company Bath Travel. He charged £10 for it. “They liked my work, and we started 30-year collaboration,” Cliff said.
Over 45 years, his company designed advertising materials for top global travel brands, including luxury cruise liners such as Deluxe Cruises, Celestyal Cruises, and SeaDream. They also designed maps, property leaflets and information panels for most of the National Trust properties, informational materials for West Dorset District Tourism, South Somerset Tourism and many others businesses and organisations.
Despite business success, work never took over all of Cliff’s time. He continued painting and opened The Creative Gallery in Wareham in 2005. Now owned and run by Dorset potter, Fiona Kelly, but Cliff remains as artist-in-residence.
