Originally from Newcastle, Mark Bell studied Fashion & Design at Central St. Martins and moved to Devon in 2007 where he and his wife developed an events business and creative scene that would fuel his imagination. International performers from the Burlesque, Blues and American Roots Music world have formed a stream of muses for this artist.

A love of fabrics, fluid lines and form is ever present in his richly textured work. By building layers and mixing vibrant colours on the canvas the viewer can respond to the movement, atmosphere and light of the subject and each work has an emotional resonance that is completely individual.

"I've always loved to paint and always hoped to be a working artist. I work in lots of different styles - I've a very naturalistic life-like style or I go very graphic with very defined lines. Sometimes I'll try and mix the two, by using a very naturalistic approach with a bold, striking graphic line through it to compliment it. My work has taken a slightly different direction most recently as I've got into a lot more jazz, and that started influencing how I was painting and what I was painting.

In addition to canvasses, I like to paint on fabrics, furniture and more unusual surfaces like vinyl records to offer very affordable art pieces.

I like to immerse myself in the painting and sometimes, when the conditions are right, I work extraordinarily fast. I love the feeling of being swept along and coming out the other side. It’s very rewarding to do a few little tweaks then standing back to view the finished painting – I wish they could all be like that!”