art crush: yorkshire artist, printmaker and designer mark hearld

Not too long ago, when I featured Emily Sutton’s gorgeous watercolours and bird sculptures here at Alphabet Soup, I promised to also spotlight her partner Mark Hearld.

Prepare yourself for even more fangirl sighing and swooning. Though I admire many, many artists, there are only a handful about whom I can safely say, “I love everything he (or she) does.” (This holds true for both Emily and Mark.)

Mark is a Yorkshire native who studied illustration at the Glasgow School of Art and Natural History illustration at the Royal College of Art. He works across a variety of mediums, producing unique paintings, linocuts, lithographs, cut-paper collages, hand-painted ceramics, wallpaper and fabric designs.

He is inspired primarily by the flora and fauna of the English countryside, a deep love and fascination for nature he’s had since childhood.

What I find especially appealing about his work is the feeling of freedom and spontaneity that comes through. Whether it’s “a sleek red fox prowling the fields,” or “a mute swan standing at the frozen water’s edge,” Mark’s fluid, handcrafted approach imbues each picture with a refreshing aliveness.

He is a genius with composition — all elements arranged and layered to stunning effect. None of it ever feels over-studied or predictable. One can just about hear the screech of circling gulls, feel the wind as it whips at autumn leaves, and smell the dank earth and dead leaves after a heavy rain. One can’t help but have a sensory response to his pictures.

I find his art nourishing in that the aspects of color, shape, texture, line, detail, balance and perspective hit all the sweet spots in my aesthetic sensibility. Kind of like love at first sight, his work fairly sings.

He counts among his influences Picasso, Edward Bawden, Eric Ravilious and John Piper. I usually run out of adjectives trying to describe his work: gorgeous, distinctive, beautiful, heartening, timeless, classic, contemporary, life-affirming.

Back in 2012, he illustrated Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature, which is a collection of nonfiction poems for children written by eminent British author and zoologist Nicola Davies.

Each page turn leaves me breathless and awe-struck. If collages can be lyrical and poetic, this is it. About this book, Mark said,

I think illustrating a book for children is more to do with freeing the child within yourself. The illustrations in this book express my own childhood sense of wonder. My love of nature runs deep in my childhood and my illustrations are a way of preserving a childlike view on the world.

Mark also recently published Mark Hearld’s Workbook (Merrell Publishers, 2013), which features 200 collages, linocuts, textiles, prints, and ceramic pieces, with backstories about each and discussion on his influences. We also get a peek into the York home he shares with Emily, full of antiques, artifacts, old toys, and fascinating curiosities. I do love a passionate collector!