Mark Hearld, Shetland, 2016
COLLAGE, PIGEONS & PLATTERS Collage, Pigeons and Platters is Mark Hearld’s first solo exhibition of new work following his critically acclaimed curated exhibition The Lumber Room: Unimagined Treasures which opened the recently refurbished York Art Gallery in 2015. This exhibition continues to explore his love of the British countryside, a recent trip to Shetland and Orkney and his continuing curiosity for objects with a magpie approach to collecting. Included is a new collection of collages, lithographic & linocut prints and hand-painted ceramics. There is also available a rare, steam-rolled, linocut print which is Hearld’s most ambitious print to date measuring at 1m square. Mark Hearld studied illustration at Glasgow School of Art and completed an MA in Natural History Illustration at the Royal College of Art, London. His work is based on observations of the natural world, influenced by mid twentieth century NeoRomanticism and the gaiety of 1930s Modernism.
“Collage as an approach is at the core of my work. It enables me to pull together a whole range of surfaces and textures to dynamic effect. It is inherently abstract; each bird silhouette is also a cut out piece of paper and the paper profile is very important to the overall effect. My collages owe a lot to the work of John Piper and Julian Trevelyan in the 1930s who used off cut patterned papers as a visual equivalent for clouds in the sky, newspaper the sheer face of a cliff. These too in turn, took their inspiration from Picasso and his synthetic cubist papier collee. Collage is quite simply an invigorating process, where wallpaper, marbled paper and the flotsam of everyday life come together with drawing and paint in creative spontaneity.� Mark Hearld
“Each evening at dusk a walk with my dog provides the opportunity for quiet reflection where I look at the nature around me - allotments literally across the road and up the street are teeming with life. I have enjoyed watching a growing fox family and the delightful raucous colour palette of the blooming gladioli and ripening apples. There is something about the allotment, its organised ramshackle built up of reused materials and old posts that makes it an endless source of bramble-hedged inspiration for me.� Mark Hearld
The Forgotten Plot, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 40 x 60 cms
Cockerel I, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 40 x 60 cms
Cockerel II, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 40 x 60 cms
Gladioli & Plastic Chair, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 75 x 75 cms
Sparrows, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 30 x 35 cms
Small Holding Dovecot, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 56 cms
Scarcroft Fox, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 75 cms
French Partridge, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 40 x 40 cms
Discovery & Netted Kale, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 75 cms
Leveret, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 75 cms
Guinea Fowl, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 75 cms
September, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 75 cms
Heron, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 75 cms
Goats, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 44 x 54 cms
Grey Partridge, mixed media with collage on paper, 40 x 40 cms
Gull’s Nest, mixed media collage on paper, 21 x 30 cms
SHETLAND
SHETLAND “This August I ventured north of Inverness for the first time. The journey to Shetland was via Orkney - an adventure with my friend and artist Alex Malcolmson. Our intent was to rescue an old boat which had been left to rot and this is to become part of Alex’s sculptural work. The trip was a wonderful opportunity to draw inspiration from the islands. The Pier Arts Centre in Orkney and the Stromness Museum set a fantastic visual tone for the start of the visit and the brief impression of the rest of Orkney means that I will certainly go back. There were so many beautiful images to take in such as the sight of at least 50 swans on the lake. The magic of arriving by overnight ferry in Shetland was wonderful and I was soon scrutinising the rocky shores, distant islands, not to mention the geos, voes, creeks and inlets. Highlights included a night in a baronial hall on the island of Vaila, reached by an aluminium salmon fishing launch at full tilt; watching the intelligent antics of ravens in Lerwick harbour and painting wooden pigeons on the rocks by the sea. The trip was just what I needed and I came back with small sketches; eyes wide open and a head full of collages in waiting.” Mark Hearld
The Shetland Times, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 75 cms
Vaila Sheep, 2016 mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 75 cms
The Shetland Ewe, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 75 cms
Raven, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 75 cms
Lera Voe, Clubbf Pier, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 30 x 42 cms
Stromness Harbour, mixed media with collage on paper, 40 x 60 cms
Bonxie-shore, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 40 x 60 cms
Farewell to Stromness, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 40 x 60 cms
“The ceramics featured in this exhibition are made at Stoke-on-Trent in collaboration with Anthony Wright who runs a small production pottery. I modelled the pigeons which were then slip cast in earthenware. Each were decorated individually in the pottery. The range of both figurative and abstract earthenware platters were decorated by hand with underglaze manganese, cobalt and pewter glaze.� Mark Hearld
I.
All Pigeons are hand-painted ceramic, H:19 L: 32 W:19 cms
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI. All Pigeons are hand-painted ceramic, H:19 L: 32 W:19 cms
VII.
Goose Platter, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Forest Platter, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Sea Bird Platter, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Flying Bird Platter, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Hawk Platter, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Bengal Cats Platter, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Exotic Bird Platter, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Flight Platter, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Menagerie Platter, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Parakeet Platter, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Vaila Ewe Platter, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Abstract I, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Abstract II, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Abstract III, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Abstract IV, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Abstract V, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Abstract VI, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
“This summer I have produced my most ambitious linocut to date. At one metre across, Bird Tree was truly an epic undertaking. It was made as a design for a screen printed children’s quilt for the new enterprise Sessions and Co. I was spurred on by the opportunity to print the lino with a steam roller at Ditching Art and Craft Museum’s Big Steam Print event in Brighton this year. This print is one of a very few hand burnished proofs.” Mark Hearld
Hawk-Eye, screenprint, 59 x 75 cms, edition of 75
Bird Tree, 2016, steam rolled linocut, 100 x 100 cms, artist proof from a total edition of 5 Higher resolution image available to view at: http://www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/markhearld
Lapwing Nest, screenprint, 38 x 50 cms, edition of 100
Pigeon, linocut, 42 x 60 cms, edition of 75
left: Shoreline, single colour linocut, 64 x 32 cms, edition of 75 above: Fauna, linocut, 42 x 60 cms, edition of 75
This month we are raising money for Direct Aid, Edinburgh who are currently raising money to help Syrian refugees with provisions as winter approaches. Each one of Mark Hearld’s Private View cards are a limited edition print of just 2250. Each print has been letter pressed by master printer Martin Clark (left) at Tilley Printers, Ledbury in York. This print will be available in the gallery for £2 cash. All donations will go to Direct Aid, Edinburgh. Find out more about this charity at: http://www.edinburghdirectaid.org
St Jude’s makes and sells unique printed fabrics, cushion covers and wallpapers, working with an eclectic range of artist designers including Mark Hearld, Angie Lewin and Emily Sutton. Their fabrics and wallpapers are printed in short runs in Britain, and are currently available by mail order from their workshop in Norfolk. Many of their fabrics are also available as ready-made cushion covers.
Mark Hearld has a stunning collection of wallpaper & fabrics available on St Judes website. Please visit www.stjudesfabrics.co.uk for more information
Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition Collage, Pigeons and Platters 5 - 29 October 2016 All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced in any form by print, photocopy or by any other means, without the permission of the copyright holders and of the publishers.