Fame stalks former estate worker

By Jackie O'Brien
BBC Scotland

Mark Edwards' work now sells for up to £8,000

A painter who took up work on a shooting estate to supplement his income is now making his mark on the arts world.

Mark Edwards spoke to BBC Scotland's Jackie O'Brien about his years in the fine art wilderness.

He also explained how his interpretations of the Highland landscape transformed his fortunes.

Mr Edwards' darkly humorous work is now selling for thousands of pounds and has won him a publishing deal.

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It was a case of painter turned gamekeeper for Sutherland-based artist Mark Edwards.

He took work on a local estate to supplement his income after his oil paintings of deerstalking failed to make a big enough impression.

Now though, after more than 20 years of trying and a change of style, he has taken the art world by storm from his tiny gallery in the village of Tongue.

Suddenly we've got money and we're having to pay tax and everything which is very irritating Mark Edwards

Mr Edwards has just signed a deal with leading publishers, Washington Green Fine Art Publishing.

Spotting his commercial appeal, the company has transformed his original paintings into a new collection of limited edition prints, entitled "White Wood".

Mr Edward's fortunes have also been transformed.

With his originals selling for up to £8,000 each, he said he could now keep the wolves from the door.

He said: "There has been moments when I've had to phone the bank manager for credit on the condition that at least one cheque should be coming in to help cover it, but now I'm seeing the bank manager to see how we should invest my new earnings.

"Suddenly we've got money and we're having to pay tax and everything which is very irritating."

His new genre of art is the stuff of a John le Carre spy thriller, with intriguing and slightly sinister men in bowler hats lurking in the shadows of a snow filled forest. The three limited editions in the Washington Green series include Man Watching Crows, Waiting For The Decision and The Man With The Balloon.

The White Wood collection has struck a highly commercial chord with the art market and is the third stage of a long journey as a book illustrator and stalking artist.

Mr Edwards drove north from Kent in a 1958 Ford Prefect to Cape Wrath, in the far north of Scotland, in the early 70s with his new wife Sally.

They rented an old shepherd's cottage and stayed for 28 years, raising three children.

The first 10 years in the cottage were without electricity, or a phone and water was piped from the local river.