We are the Dreamers of Dreams (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) - Large Limited Edition #5AP
£408.75
- Welcome inside my mind, strange isn’t it! Many of you won’t know that this is the third piece that I have done on this classic story and film. The first two pieces were created as commissioned works back in 2015 when I first created my ‘Storyteller’ body of work. ‘Charlie’ and ‘Sink or Swim’ were obscure, narrative driven and dark, darker that one of Wonka’s bars of chocolate lodged in Augustus’ deep crevasses and folds! Really?! Sorry, like I said, welcome inside my mind!
‘Wolves, Wonderment and Wanderlust’ is a truly balanced boutique ‘Storyteller’ collection, it is dark, light, and downright bizarre, guess which one this falls under. The brilliant story writing (not by me!) lends itself to falling into all three but I have wanted to create a quirky and bizarre piece on this classic for an age so now was the perfect opportunity! As with my ‘Wind in the Willows’ piece, there is a vast number of opportunities to create a whole range of pieces on this masterpiece, but I must save some room for later! (You get it right?!)
As a kid, I remember the Roald Dahl books well and I will without doubt do a collection purely on his genius storytelling. Without a doubt though, the film that starred the amazing Gene Wilder is what stirs up my fondest memories, it just has everything! You know how I love to show the proximity of darkness and light and how they are interwoven, and the film does that and more. I just love it. The settings within the factory are iconic as well as the much more recent version that starred the brilliant Johnny Depp. It was crucial that my version didn’t end up being influenced by either of those, that would have been lazy and too easy. So, what you see is a glimpse inside my mind, my imagination. I hope you like it.
‘We are the Dreamers of Dreams’ takes the ‘Wonderment’ spot from this collection. The aim was to create that open mouthed reaction if you were to walk into the cavernous opening within the factory. Just don’t keep your mouth open too long, way too many parrots and toucans up there! There’s a lot to take in eh! The intensity of the backdrop is nuts, and that’s before you even notice the paddle steamer! There’s no earthly way of knowing which direction that’s going! Well, it’s heading into a tunnel but what lays in wait? That’s where you come in, I’ll pass the wheel to you.
The serene chocolate river is a contrast to the powerful waterfall that cascades downwards. That detail was introduced from my love of challenging myself technically. ‘Hey You Guuuys’ (Goonies) was a much earlier piece that featured magical waterfalls within a cave and I was waiting for a new opportunity, so here we are. This piece is a classic example of how I set off on a journey creating the scene but without being too concise and pre-planned.
I wanted it to evolve, to go off on random deviations as my imagination opens up. I guess that is what makes artists different to another, it’s how your mind works that makes the piece authentic and true. I wanted to inject an industrial quality but with a cute and colourful approach so that is why the pipes that transport god knows what are shaped as plastic bendy drinking straws. The ‘steam punk’ inspired paddle steamer is like no other. I didn’t want to use something like the films as like I said before, too easy, and if you have read my ‘Wanderlust’ narrative you’ll know why! The control rooms that are set within the rock walls are inspired by Gaudi’s architecture – drawing from a past art trip to Barcelona in my college days. Memories stick don’t they, it’s great to be able to bring this into my work in such a different way than I maybe planned back then.
Like I mentioned before, I love the dark element to the films, how it flips from light to dark without warning. I love the morals that are conveyed in the storytelling and especially the greed element. Since 2016, I have used the line ‘Greed Breeds Monsters’ in my work and it sits perfectly here. Greed really does breed Wonkas! If you hold that thought and seek out an element within the scene it can help to position what you are seeing. My lips are sealed shut, as if holding a handful of everlasting gobstoppers in my, well, gob!
So why the flamingo? Why not! My 2021 ‘Open Door’ piece was an earlier example of me opening my imagination and showing my random way of thinking. Is it the same one? Maybe, why not? They run for miles yet look like they skip leg day. Joking aside, I really do hope that I have done this justice, I know I am proud of it but when you are referencing such brilliance in storytelling there is quite some pressure there. I share an un-wanted affiliation with the battles that Gene Wilder faced, and I would love to think that my work would capture his sparkle and raise a smile if he could see. Rest in peace Gene. X
We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams, life is way too fucking short, it really is. We really don’t know what the future holds so embrace now, think bigger, dream bigger, be brighter, act with integrity and be authentic. Be a bit more Wonka!
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- Released: 2022
- Collection: Wolves, Wonderment & Wanderlust
- Edition Size: 10 + 2AP
- Specification: Limited edition fine art print, hand signed by artist.
- Image Size: 32” x 24"
- Framed Size (Approx): 42.5” x 35"
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- Get in touch for overseas delivery
- Please allow approximately 14 days for delivery, should you need delivery sooner please let us know.
Commissions
When workload allows Mark embraces client commissions and has enjoyed amazing success to date. If you have been inspired by the work that you have seen and have a specific idea or simply a seed then please do get in touch.
Commission EnquiriesRelated Items
Smile (The Joker) - Canvas Limited Edition #2PP
£708.75
- It was initially going to be purely based on ‘The Dark Knight’ film with the wonder of Heath Ledger but for me personally from watching the most recent ‘Joker’ movie and being left completely open mouthed by the pure brilliance of the brutality and the utter sadness of the character and what happened to him, it took on a different form.
So, it started with a ‘Storyteller’ style piece where it’s this abandoned, derelict building that’s depicted as the asylum but done in a way that takes it to a whole different level by showing the characters. It’s a classic darkness and light concept that I love to work with and showing how closely that they can reside within a person, within a building, within their four walls. That was the aim to create something really dark, really beautiful but in a completely different way through showing the characters and touching on the battles that are going on within their heads and what that can ultimately lead to.
The decision to introduce the characters was a big one, it can spoil a piece, but the aim was to have them so that they are literally bleeding out onto the canvas, with sheer emotion that’s captured through the detailing. The idea being with the asylum is that it’s so difficult to leave but so easy to return and that takes on so many meanings.
This piece shows that contrast between the pure, sinister side of the Heath Ledger character where he’s absolutely seething within the shadows but then in complete contrast, we go across to Joaquin Phoenix where he’s totally lost in his own world. There’s no acknowledgement to the destruction that he’s causing, no remorse but ultimately happier and it’s showing how that can completely escalate and morph through. It’s been a wonderful piece to work on, one that has particular poignancy to me and I’m sure to many others.
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- Released: 2020
- Collection: Lost in Hollywood 3
- Edition Size: 10 + 2AP
- Specification: Hand embellished heavyweight artist canvas, double framed, hand signed by artist.
- Image Size: 36” x 27"
- Framed Size (Approx): 41.5” x 32"
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- Get in touch for overseas delivery
- Please allow approximately 14 days for delivery, should you need delivery sooner please let us know.
Child's Play! - Canvas Limited Edition #5AP
£708.75
- My portfolio is as diverse as it is huge but one thing that is for sure is that you thundering lunatics seem to consistently go nuts for how I portray the retro toys and games within my ‘Retrospective’ works. So, in the spirit of Christmas, feast your eyeballs on this chaotic beast!
What’s that saying? Go big or go home? Well home is no place to get ideas for your Christmas list, is it? My insanely popular ‘The Memory Remains’ series featured a quaint little toy shop that then opened out into a vast cave of wonderment. The architects and structural engineers amongst my collectors would easily have thought how the heck was that possible from the exterior but it’s all in your head as a kid, it was always bigger and brighter in your imagination than reality and I have embraced that time and time again.
It's 2023 and I intend to embrace this Christmas, so I have gone big for this piece, bigger than BIG Ken’s Bell! Eh? Sorry, welcome to how my mind works! If you get it, I love you. Whilst so many of us have those memories of visiting the local toy shop and all of it’s charm, some will always favour the sheer magic and scale of the one and only ‘HAMLEYS’ on the iconic Regents street in London. Does it get better than that? Don’t spoil it and say ‘Duncan’s Toy Chest’, oh hang on – talking of spoilers ;) And don’t you dare say ‘Argos’, or ‘Toys R Us’! Those pens were crap, and that blasted giraffe was a bit creepy.
So yes, I have gone big, bright and quite brilliant if you don’t mind me giving my trumpet a quick tootie toot toot! ‘Child’s Play!’ was a genuine joy to work on, one that embodies why I don’t start off with a regimented list of what to include, it just evolves, swells and explodes out everywhere – just like those grotty bottied pigeons! This is as much an opportunity to look within the toy shop as within my peculiar mind! There is so much to see and decipher, I won’t attempt to list out or to even explain, I will just let you enjoy the madness and magic!
Art to me is everything, it is my escape and my time machine. I was going to drop in a line from ‘Back to the Future’ about not needing roads but it’s late and my bulldog wants his dinner, and his arse is my enemy. However, speaking of roads it reminds me of this ability to escape. It’s cool, you can keep the violins locked away but at the time I was creating ‘Child’s Play!’ my car had a cracked wheel from a pothole the size of the cave from ‘The Goonies’. I remember getting a lift from a good friend back to the studio and trying to explain what the hell I was doing that day. Have a good look inside Boba Fett’s cab and try and detail that to someone! Welcome to my world, I love it and I am so proud that you lot love it too!
Thank you for giving me the platform to look back to leap forward.
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- Released: 2023
- Collection: KIDULTS
- Edition Size: 20 + 5AP
- Specification: Hand embellished heavyweight artist canvas, double framed, hand signed by artist.
- Image Size: 36” x 27"
- Framed Size (Approx): 41.5” x 32"
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- Get in touch for overseas delivery
- Please allow approximately 14 days for delivery, should you need delivery sooner please let us know.
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Free Spirit - Black & White (Breakfast at Tiffany's) - Canvas Limited Edition #1/5
£708.75
- I have wanted to do ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s for an age. With each movie collection I always strive to create a piece that is pretty and beautiful to contrast with others that are much more dramatic and intense visually. With the 50th anniversary of the movie falling this year it was the perfect opportunity. What you see is very different for me, which is a good thing. There has been a move towards the introduction of characters when the piece warrants it and rather than seeing a scene that is absolutely littered with detail I wanted to make it all about the character, Holly.
I wanted to portray her as she was, rather than how she wasn’t as it suits my work and is authentic to my way of thinking. Without a genuine connection or reason there is always a risk of the image becoming hollow. The details that do exist help to tell the narrative but in a much more simplistic way that results in a much more powerful and poignant image. It’s called ‘Free Spirit’ based on Holly’s wish to not be caged but being told she puts herself in her own cage. It is her wish to be set free, she is such a complex character, high maintenance, but adorable and innocent. This sense of being trapped and needing to be set free is a concept that has ran through my work since day one, an emotion that is driven through personal emotions and one that resonates with so many.
This is a classic example of how, when planning this piece you end up doing something so completely different to what you thought you would do all that time ago, and I love that. It is that pull that takes hold, resonates and takes you off on a much more honest direction. What you see is everything laid out around her, the open bird cage with the dove rising upwards that is really beautiful. In contrast you have the blackened thorns and withering roses that are twisting around the cage and the foot of her stool. It’s a very dark element that builds on the concept of needing to be set free from the negatives and darkness and it is this detail against such an iconic image that makes it mine and authentic. It is all about freedom and restriction. The piece features butterflies and birds that represent freedom and transition, expression and the ability to spread one’s wings. I absolutely love her expression, so innocent, confident yet fragile. There is a personal connection to this film that makes it authentic.
Audrey Hepburn was born in Ixelles - Belgium, my Grandmother, Mary was born in Ypres and met my Grandad, Geoff whilst he was a soldier in the second World War as he came into her Parent’s cake shop. After the war, my Mother, Anne-Marie was born in Ypres before they headed to England to start a new life which, given the circumstances must have been daunting and challenging to say the least. My wonderful Grandma was heavily restricted in her later years and my Mother has been incredibly restricted due to my Dad’s condition - so what this piece symbolises is absolutely massive. -
- Released: 2021
- Collection: Lost In Hollywood 4
- Edition Size: 5 + 1AP
- Specification: Hand embellished heavyweight artist canvas, double framed, hand signed by artist.
- Image Size: 37” x 26"
- Framed Size (Approx): 41.5” x 32"
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- Get in touch for overseas delivery
- Please allow approximately 14 days for delivery, should you need delivery sooner please let us know.