This week, we talked to Mark Warner, a Shropshire based artist and one of our tutors. Mark runs numerous day workshops as well as a Life Drawing session and was recently awarded the People’s Art Prize at the Qube gallery, resulting in a solo show that finished on March 5, 2018. In our “Ten Questions” Q&A session we talked to Mark about travelling, teaching, and painting at home and away.

Which trip had the biggest impact on you and your life as an artist?

I have been on many trips both in the UK and abroad. Visiting galleries and Museums in many cities, these have been extremely inspiring and it is always the ones that you think will have the least impact that do! Last July I went on a painting and sketching week to the West Wales Coast in the UK. This proved a fantastic resource for me with locations up in the hills and waterfalls as well as the rocky shoreline and harbours around the town of Aberystwyth. This said, a few trips to the magical city of Paris as well as the mystical ruins of Delphi in Greece has been hard to beat...

Why is travelling important for you as an artist?

Traveling and documenting a journey is very important to me. Looking back at my sketchbooks I can remember the weather and even certain people that stopped to talk... and their dogs!

What’s your favourite destination to paint?

Currently, and this does change, I like painting and sketching plein air at a place called Stiperstones up in the Shropshire hills in the UK. Here the weather can be fantastic as well as brutal. My work makes reference to the weather. I have attached an image of a painting recently up on Stiperstones.

Is there a destination you haven’t been to yet that you would love to visit?

I would love to visit Japan! Can you arrange it please!

What motivated you to start your teaching career?

I have always felt I had something to offer and really enjoy demonstrating to people what I have learnt and discovered. Everyone's interpretation is different and this is what makes the subject so accessible and wonderful.

Starting out, what were your formative days of teaching like? They early years were not too different. We are continually learning from each other. Positivity is a great thing!

What do you like most about the combination of teaching and travelling?

Sometimes you come across the same scene or location as your students for the first time and this is exciting. There is something magical in bringing together like-minded people from different parts of the world who want to learn and further their learning... and to have a good time doing it. I can spend an hour walking around with my equipment at a location to be happy with the view/vista!

What was the funniest experience throughout your teaching career?

One time on a painting weekend on the West Wales coast in a cold October we tried putting up a gazebo in gale force winds and pouring rain! Needless to say the weather won!

What inspires you and which motives do you like best, and why?

Drawing inspires me. I love the combination of drawing and painting often combining the two. I also enjoy drawing sculptures in cast rooms at Museums as well as Urban Sketching.

What artists influence your work most?

Giacometti, Matisse, Turner, Sir Kyffin Williams, Tai shan Schierenberg to name but a few... Giacometti drawings are a joy to behold.

If you hadn’t become an artist, what would you be doing right now?

Probably working with people in some form or another.

Mark’s 2020 courses will take place in South-West France in August, with spaces still available and in Tuscany in October. For more information please click here