Tori Ratcliffe

Passion for Nature

This deep passion informs all aspects of Tori's life. When not painting, she can be found walking in nature with her two dogs or planting trees. She has also even used funds from her artworks to help support wildlife conservation charities. Indeed, since 2015, Tori has raised almost £30,000 for various wildlife and conservation charities. It is amazing when you can see that an artist's work expresses a deeper facet of their identity and their beliefs, and this is very much the case with Tori Ratcliffe.

Watercolour and Ink

Her body of work consists of a magical menagerie of animals, all depicted in her inimitable style which is achieved through watercolour and ink. Tori has had a lifelong love affair with art, but it was when she was 21 that she was first introduced to watercolours by her aunt. Her development with watercolours is one of those amazing stories where an artist stumbles upon a brand new way of working because they want to solve a specific difficulty. In this case, the difficulty with watercolours to the budding young artist in waiting was that it all just seemed a bit too slow! Impatience bred invention, as Tori then came upon what would become her very own style.

Tori Ratcliffe Originals

Instead of painting in the normal watercolour method, she would apply the watercolour paint in a loose, expressive manner. Then, she would draw the fine details on with pen afterwards. This combination of watercolour and pen has ended up being rather ingenious. What it gives the original artwork is a perfectly balanced sense of complete freedom and precise detail. The expressive splashes of colour almost seem to give space for the lively spirit of the animal to roam, whilst the precise pen details tie this liberating energy to a sense of realism which celebrates the unique physical form of each animal.