Pam is Talking Joy with Award winning portrait and landscape artist TJ Cunningham.
Pam is Talking Joy with Award winning portrait and landscape artist TJ Cunningham.
ABOUT TJ CUNNINGHAM
Tim studied at Pensacola Christian College (PCC). I love that he signs all his paintings with a small PTL (Praise The Lord) under his name. He says, "life is a gift, one I receive with tremendous gratitude.”
His passion for landscapes is only surpassed by his love of the portraiture, and Cunningham has a gift for combining the two into cohesive compositions. For his work, he has received several prestigious honors including an Exceptional Merit Award from the Portrait Society of America; and been shown in galleries and museums through the United States. In September 2020, his painting, “Snowy Owl’s Haunt” made into the top 20 paintings in the Plein Air Salon Competition 2020
—The Talking Joy Podcast Interview with host Pam Rotelle Robertson
SNOWY OWL’S HAUNT BY TJ CUNNINGHAM - Top 20 Painting in the Plein Air Salon
Meditation - Oil on panel
TIM’S MANTRA
“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.” - C.S. Lewis
TIM’S STORY
I have always loved birds of prey. My interest in them was a catalyst that started me down the road to studying art in college and eventually, oil painting as a profession. As a nine-year-old boy, I attempted to create models of every existing hawk, eagle, and vulture. I made them in scale to each other using a ratio of 1-inch equals 1 foot. Most of my inspiration came from the raptors I saw in the fields and woods around my home in Addison County, Vermont.
Bald eagle numbers fell from an estimated 100,000 nesting individuals in the late 1700s to near extinction by the mid-1900s. In 1963 there were only 487 nesting pairs. This decline was owing to many factors, most notably the use of the pesticide DDT which was a chemical used to curb mosquito populations. As this pesticide worked its way through the eco-system and up the food chain, bald eagles began to consume fish that were contaminated.
I spent my first decade of life in Cambridge, Vermont, which happened to be one of Aldro Hibbard and Emile Gruppe’s favorite places to paint. Both of them died about ten years before my birth, but the same landscape that inspired them inspired me. The small farms, wooded hills, and shallow streams were bursting with inspiration. It was the perfect place to awaken a desire to create.
The horrifying effect was that the poison weakened the eagle eggshells causing them to break under the weight of their roosting mothers. Thankfully, the fight to save the eagles began in the 1970s, but still, during my childhood, there were no nesting pairs in Vermont. The good work continued, though, and in 2007 the bald eagle was removed from the list of Threatened and Endangered Species. These magnificent birds have returned, and now I see them frequently.
My painting, The Return celebrates the story of the bald eagle’s journey back from the brink of extinction.
I LOVE TO TEACH
Few things bring me as much joy as teaching people to paint. I meet people where they are and my workshops are open to anyone no matter their skill level. If the class dates below don’t fit your schedule please consider subscribing to my newsletter. That way I can keep you posted with information about new classes.
I also grew up seeing the artwork of my family members William Trost Richards, Francis Davis Millet, Kathleen McEnery, and most importantly, my grandfather Michael Cunningham. Both my great-grandmother Kathleen and my grandfather Michael passed away seventeen years before I was born. Still, through their paintings, they showed me that a career as an artist was within reach.
I studied art with oil painter and illustrator Brian Jekel and other excellent teachers at Pensacola Christian College (PCC). The art classes at PCC focused on representational painting rather than modern art or abstract art. During my four years there, I learned a process for creating a painting that I still use today. Immediately after graduating in 2010, I began my career as a professional artist.
In 2014 Southwest Art recognized me as an emerging artist in their “21 under 31” article. Since then, my landscape paintings have won awards from the PleinAir Salon, the Portrait Society of America, the Art Renewal Center, and the Oil Painters of America.
Life is more than art, though, and one great benefit of this vocation is the time that I have to enjoy with my family. My wife, Julie, and I share in the joy of three beautiful children. I sign all my paintings with a small PTL (Praise The Lord) under my name. Life is a gift. One I receive with tremendous gratitude.
ART SUPPLIES:
On his blog, he has generously provided links along with recommended art supplies so that you can buy what you need without delay.
Check it out here!