Mark Walmsley is an innovative and exciting new colourist who hand-mixes traditional paints from pigments and other authentic ingredients, which he then works onto Japanese and Italian hand-made papers. Mark was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1954. He left school and home at the age of 15½ to work on farms in Cumbria and Lancashire.  From an early age he had a passion for books and book-selling; eventually he worked for the Dalesman Publishing Company. Through the buying and selling of books he came into contact with the antique trade where he learned about the restoration of antique furniture. When the right course came along, Mark went to Essex and attended a diploma course in book restoration. This was an invaluable experience which led to employment with Lancashire Record Office whereupon he undertook 3 years training in conservation. This gave him the opportunity to develop his career and to work around the country with some of the best binders and paper conservators in the UK.

In 1984, Mark won the prestigious Churchill Fellowship, which allowed him to study the restoration of illuminated documents in Austria, Germany, Hungary and Russia. Following this, in the 1990's, Mark's research into decorative book-papers led to him being sought to teach courses in decorative papers, Japanese binding and craft bookbinding. Altogether he has taught over 120 people the art of bookbinding, whilst taking on commissions for designer bindings.

Mark shares a passion for all things Art with his sister-in-law. In 2002 her long held ambition to create her own gallery was realised when the opportunity to build locally arose. This gave Mark the chance to work with his brother-in-law, using the traditional artisan skills required when working with green oak.

For Mark it has been a long journey from an initial wish, at the age of 12, to attend the Harris Art College  and become an artist. His artistic formation has drawn on his experience of working with diverse materials and eras, ranging through books to woodwork, papers to pigments, and the restoration of many documents and books from the 11th  century to the present day. The opening of the gallery (www.mossinteriors.co.uk) gave Mark the incentive to exhibit his paintings and so, forty years on, his childhood ambition was realised. In 2006 he exhibited at the gallery for the first time, with commissions and sales beyond all expectations.

Mark has worked for the Lancashire Record Office for 24 years and is still conserving Lancashire's written heritage. He has a passion for all things Blues and is about to realise another ambition, to restore a VW T2, and is on the lookout for a barge to restore and fit out with oak. In the words of Tom Petty, "If you never stop still, you will never grow old".

You can contact me for any further informatiion by way of emaill

Events

back to top of page