Owl Eye Issue 5_Int

Owl Illustration
Tawny Owl By Terance james Bond
Story written and contributed by John Gray
of the Internationaal Owl Society
It's all Tickety-Boo *
for Mr. Bond....................
"There is a funny thing about owl paintings: it seems to
me that there is a feeling of disdain, even annoyance
on the part of the bird at having been disturbed by the
viewer.
Most of my owl paintings offer a face-to-face
confrontation. The bird rotates its head to glare over its
shoulder at whoever has blundered into its private world
to the extent that one almost feels like apologising to
the owl when retreating"
These are the words of Terance James Bond, who is arguably
one of the United Kingdom's most successful, sought after
and dare I say best-loved Bird Artists. You may not recognise
the name but is almost guaranteed that you will recognise
the work of Mr Bond, perhaps seen on a calendar, Wedgwood
plate or cover art for Tyto the house magazine of the
International Owl Society.
Once known Bond's works are instantly recognisable, not only
for the realism of the birds, painted life-size but also for their
superbly detailed and intricate backgrounds, faithfully painted
as seen without any form of contemporary presentation or
embellishment. His two great loves are birds and the English
countryside, particularly his native county of Suffolk.
Having recently recently celebrated his 70th birthday Terance
James Bond is able to reflect on a career as an artist and
illustrator of Natural History exceeding 45 years, which
kick-started when his first exhibition, held in 1970, sold
out in a matter of 20 minutes. Likewise, he has been
associated with producing calendars for the
UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of
Birds (RSPB) for almost 40 years.
Usually birthdays of special significance are also celebrated with an exhibition, but dedicated followers
were disappointed that one was not held on this special occasion. His last exhibition held in 2011,
which also coincided with the launch of his fifth and most recent book "A Bond with Birds"
offered 37 paintings for sale which ranged in size from small works sized at 10 x 8 inches
to a massive Tawny Owl 36 x 48 inches and priced at USD 47,500.00. The amount of
work needed to prepare for such an exhibition is enormous especially when
combined with commission work and preparation for calendars. On this
occasion due to a large number of commissions (Mr. Bond is not
complaining) meant that there were simply no other paintings
available for sale.
“The bird rotates
its head to glare over
its shoulder at whoever
has blundered into its private
world to the extent that one
almost feels like apologising to the
owl when retreating" -TJB
Home for the Bonds is a single story ranch style property in their beloved rural Suffolk which stands in its own nature
reserve of 10 acres. As his career prospered additional land was purchased, ponds dug and trees in their hundreds planted. In
excess of 100 species of birds have been observed within the boundaries of the plot which testify to the success of the planting
and continuing husbandry.
Terance has been a regular painter of owls and subject species have included Barn Owls, Tawny Owls, Short and Long-eared Owls,
Snowy Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, Tengmalm's Owl, Little Owl and Great Grey Owls. If pressed Mr Bond will confess the latter
two species as his favourite subjects.
In preparing for a work the camera has largely supplanted the role of the sketch-pad. Looking retrospectively at his work, it is
apparent that backgrounds have become ever more detailed and complex. To glean finite detail for his paintings, he is a regular
visitor to far flung parts of the UK where fence posts complete with growths, fittings and wire or twine accoutrements are
captured through the viewfinder for future reference and dissection. He is a stickler for the accurate presentation of the smallest
detail and draws the viewer's attention to items that they know are there but that do not necessarily command first notice. The
other advantage offered by the camera over the sketch pad is that it allows nature's own intricate composition to be re-arranged
or edited in the studio for the purposes of a particular work.
We perhaps imagine artists as leading freer and less regimented lives than those of us whose lives and employment are dictated
by the routine of the “9 thru 5” of the working day. It may be surprising therefore that Terance has been the “victim” of his own
success when calendar work demanded 18 works a year (to avoid repetition and the necessity of working three years ahead)
which created the necessity of often working a seven day week.