New Pencils, Pristine Erasers, and Alluring Paper Birds

Next week I'm taking a drawing basics workshop to freshen myself up a bit, so this afternoon I popped over to Hollander's with my art supplies print out. So gratifying! I have a specific need to purchase new art supplies, outside my normal card-making and print-pulling realms. The best part of that first-day-of-school feeling, with none of the worry about buses or rosters or crushes being too near or too far. Since today was a bring-the-baby-to-work day for Javier, I restrained myself from getting sucked into all the pretty, pretty papers and cards as my projects were all waiting for me at home.

from ArtAngels website

It was, however, impossible not to notice the Mark Hearld cards planted next to the register. More precisely, the paper birds hanging above the display. Hard to say which desire came first: the desire to own them or the desire to be making and selling such lively and well done forms. His tri-fold collaged cards of leaping rabbits (excuse me, hares, he's from the U.K.), snacking mice, and questing chickens all balance spontaneous freedom with the accuracy of a practiced hand.









 

No surprise, then, to learn that he started out at the Glasgow School of Art, and has excelled at printmaking, collage, and fabric design. 

 

You also learn from an intro video (above) that Hearld is a bit of a collector, positioning the buying, collecting and arranging of objects as "almost as satisfying as creating art"; one of his past exhibits ("The Art of Acquisition") explored this and made me wonder whether he and Maira Kalman have ever crossed paths. As he said, "I enjoy objects, so I have the feeling I want to design objects. People I admire have also designed objects...It's about enjoying the visual quality of things around you." I don't have much to add to this, except that it resonates strongly for me. And it brings me back to the curious interplay of appreciating, the desire to own, and the desire to make. 

from ArtAngels

 

 

 

 

Anyway, ain't he grand? Lisa Congdon published a nice image-laden post about him in 

2013...UK publishers Art Angels, boast an impressive artist list for their product lines, including the likes of Holly Meade, Nick Wroblewski, Angie Lewin (whose work I just saw for the first time this week, via Pinterest)...I'll definitely be trolling through their directory again. You can check out fabrics made by Hearld and other artists, here... And in his words, Hearld's Work Book looks like a behind-the-scenes visual feast.