Mark Edwards The White Wood
Mark Edwards – The White Wood Born in 1951, Mark Edwards went to study at Medway College of Art, followed by Walthamstow College of Art in London. Keen to begin his career as an artist, he left education and began exhibiting at local galleries, whilst teaching drawing and illustration. In 1974, Mark and his wife, Sally, made a spontaneous decision to buy a 1958 Ford Prefect for £25 and drive to the Highlands of Scotland, where they rented an old run-down shepherd’s cottage on the shores of Loch Hope. With no electricity or phone until 1984 they lived in their remote cottage for 28 years, raising their three children. In this stunning and isolated environment, Mark’s artistic ideals thrived, and he found considerable success as both a painter of countryside pursuits and as an illustrator of book covers for a wealth of eminent authors such as Michael Morpurgo, Kingsley Amis and Philip Pullman. In 2007, however, inspired by a 1950s photograph of the reflection of a man in a window on a busy New York street and dressed in a bowler hat and coat, he began painting a similar character within a snowy wood. Enduring tension and mystery were created in this body of work, and thus the ‘White Wood’ series of paintings was born. Curious, intriguing, enigmatic, occasionally haunting and always mysterious, these paintings and their unidentified characters in Homburg hats and black overcoats drive the observer to ask questions to which there will never be an answer, wonder at the coats hanging from the trees, the shadows of no-one there, the isolated building, the solitary red balloon, and just to accept the enigma. Deeply textured, these paintings can elicit a profound effect at both a visual and emotional level. The White Wood made its debut appearance in 2008 and Red Rag Gallery is delighted to present a continuation of this marvellous body of work.
Cover Image - The Appointment (detail) - 12 x 16 inches
Mark Edwards The White Wood 28 September - 12 October 2019 All work is for sale on receipt of this brochure. Open every day from 10 am.
Dog Watching The Balloon 12 x 12 inches
4.
Stopping To Watch 12 x 12 inches
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Man Looking For His Dog 12 x 12 inches
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Two Men Watching The Balloon 12 x 12 inches
The Appointment 12 x 16 inches
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Stopping To Look 16 x 16 inches
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Deciding What To Do 24 x 24 inches 9.
Man Up A Tree 12 x 12 inches
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Finding The Garden 12 x 12 inches
Standing In The Ring 16 x 20 inches
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Across The Field And Into The Wood 12 x 12 inches
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Ghost Train 24 x 24 inches 13.
The Runaway Train 16 x 16 inches
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The Long Wait 24 x 24 inches 15.
Waiting For The Others 12 x 12 inches
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Waiting For The Light To Come On 12 x 12 inches
Two Passing Trains 24 x 24 inches 17.
The Last Train 15 x 22 inches
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Waiting To Be Called 32 x 32 inches 19.
Waiting For The Light To Go Off 16 x 16 inches
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Waiting For The Train To Pass 20 x 24 inches 21.
The Fire 16 x 16 inches
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Waiting For Their Brother 16 x 16 inches
Watching The Crows 24 x 24 inches 23.
Discussing Business 12 x 16 inches
Red Rag Gallery Church Street Stow on the Wold Gloucestershire GL54 1BB t: 01451 832563 e: mail@redraggallery.co.uk www.redraggallery.co.uk