Christina Jansen recently had the pleasure of visiting Mark Hearld at his remarkable house and studio in York, during the York Open Studio weekends. The house was filled with vibrant new collage pieces, ceramics, and other works of art, all complemented by a stunning tulip display.
The Gallery has represented Mark Hearld since 2009 and we have witnessed the continuous evolution of his artistic journey. Christina and Mark are currently immersed in planning his upcoming residency at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh. During this residency, Mark will create a new tapestry design, engage in live drawing sessions, host a collage workshop and create numerous art pieces, all of which will become integral components of his major solo exhibition with The Gallery in 2025.
It is always a pleasure to visit Mark and delight in discovering new artists, both past and present, within Mark's creative environment, which includes an impressive British ceramics collection among curious ephemera. I am looking forward to Mark's residency in Edinburgh, accompanied by his companion, Brio. Come and enjoy the unique experience Hearld’s creativity firsthand at Dovecot Studios when the Balcony is open, to witness one of the most dynamic talents in the contemporary UK art scene today. - Christina Jansen
Mark studied illustration in Glasgow, then Natural History Illustration at the Royal College of Art. He ‘gets’ all the mid C20th greats – Peggy Angus, John Piper and Edward Bawden and Barbara Jones, E.Q. Nicholson and Sheila Robinson – but he is deeply fond of the older stuff too, Mochaware and pub signs, architectural engravings, folk art, decoy ducks and plastic Swan bath-toys. These he collects semi-obsessively, just as he buys and swops his own work for the modern pieces by the ceramicists and artists he reveres. His old house in York is a chaotic, wonderful, eclectic, dynamic repository of all this and more. - Bible of British Taste, 2021
