I’m Mark. 

I paint (mainly oils). 

I illustrate (digital and traditional). 

I make Litter Bugs (collage and assemblage). 

And I do other things too but I’m trying to make a nice triangle with this text.

 

I like geometry. No apology. (But a sneaky rhyme. And having said that, I’m not sure what shape I’m making with this bit). Oil paints and portrait painting are a recent professional development - reaching the final of the 2021 Sky Portrait Artist of the Year competition (photos below). Very proud. I’ve taken on portrait commissions as a result, and I continue to paint and sell original artwork and prints thereof. Russian Avante Garde and Constructivism are strong influences in my paintings.

 

Previous to the above, illustration has been my sole occupation of 30 years and I’ve done ok at it. Well actually, I’m being rather humble (and fidgeting a bit). I’ve written and illustrated various books with different publishers (Macmillan, Bloomsbury, Oxford University Press, Scholastic, Egmont, Hodder & Stoughton, and Little Tiger Press) and I’ve twice won the Stockport Children's Prize (2006 & 2011) and I was longlisted for the Greenaway Medal (2011). I also won the Gold Award in the Transport for London Poster Awards in 2007, and was Runner-up in the Avensis Prize in 2003 (my illustration portfolio can be found at www.olly.net). Feeling less humble now., more of a show off.

 

Litter Bugs …are what I make when I find the time to hunt down a good grouping of found objects - I make insects out of them (the wife restricts my access to cutlery and kitchen implements). The Litter Bugs are a postmodern exploration and re-working of Victorian insect collections and taxonomy. Impressed? I use collage and assemblagé of found and crafted objects to create an artistic illusion, one I hope will seduce the viewer into closer inspection of each bug - to discover what each insect is made of. These pieces have been included in exhibitions and sold through art galleries both nationally and internationally, and have also featured in Museum exhibitions, such as 'Precious' National Museum Tour 2012, and at The Ark, Dublin in 2011, various Affordable Art Fairs, and a sell out exhibition at Anthropology, Kings Road, London in 2017. Make a shape out of that.