Eric Ennion: Ripples from the House on the Shore
‘Ripples from the House on the Shore’ celebrates the work of Eric Ennion (1900 – 1981) and features over 30 stunning watercolours and preparartory sketches by the artist. Ennion was an outstanding 20th century bird illustrator who spent the 1950s living and working on the Northumberland coast. His drawings and watercolours of native British birds appeared in print throughout his adult life but he is little known by the general public today.
Ennion was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, the son of a country doctor. The family moved to Cambridgeshire when he was four. Eric trained as a doctor and joined his fathers’ medical practice in 1926. From an early age he was fascinated by birds and drawing them. At the end of the war in 1945 he sold his medical practice and became the first warden of the Field Study Centre at Flatford Mill in Suffolk, in the heart of Constable Country. In 1950 he founded Monks’ House Observatory near Seahouses in Northumberland and for the next ten years ran a vibrant Field Study Centre.
Monks’ House, in Northumberland, attracted a regular band of keen ringers and birdwatchers, as well as providing courses for independent naturalists, artists, and students from colleges and schools and inspiring young people was central to Ennion’s life and work as an artist.
To learn more about Eric Ennion, join us on one of these forthcoming events:
An Evening in the Echoes of Ennion. The Maltings, Tuesday 5 April, 7.30pm
Join us for a free illustrated talk about the life of celebrated bird illustrator Eric Ennion.
Rippling along the shore to Ennion. Saturday 16 & Sunday 17 April, 10.00am & 2.00pm
Free guided tours which will introduce some of the birds and wildlife studied and drawn by Eric Ennion in Northumberland. Meet at ‘The Old Guardhouse’, on the corner of Palace Street. No need to book for the walk but please come dressed appropriately for the weather.
The exhibition and events are part of the University of Sunderland’s WALK Research Group Project ‘Ripples from the House on the Shore: Eric Ennion, Art & Illustration’, which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.