Mark Ayling
Me, in my Geordie hat!!
Here's the bit about me...
Hello, I'm Mark. I've always been interested in art and figurines,
I started life with a love of all things you put together, first Lego then Airfix kits then lots and lots and lots of other kits, I also used to draw and paint at every opportunity, my school rough books were testament to that, with the longest running cartoon in the school sprawling over five of them! Otherwise I went through school averagely and got thrown out of art college (this seems to happen to anyone who ends up in a career in any sort of art or design) and ended up following my Dads' lead studying building at college which in turn landed me with a number of jobs all in the building industry all of which seemed to lead me away from what I really loved.
Throughout all of this I still painted pictures and dreamed of escaping from the building industry for a career in art and design. Time went on and by the time I was forty I'd been working at a Stonemasons as a Draughtsman for 13 years, during this time I'd tried my hand at sculpting and, to my surprise, I'd made a reasonable job of it. I carried on sculpting whenever I could, usually evenings weekends, holidays; whenever I had the chance I was squidging bits of modelling clay and trying to make them look like the pictures in my head. After much work and a few lucky breaks I managed to obtain my licence from Terry Pratchett to produce Discworld artefacts and later I was commissioned, by the figurine manufacturer Clarecraft, to sculpt Discworld figurines and finally ended up working with Clarecraft sculpting my own ranges, finally I was back on track.
The next few years at Clarecraft were very creative and I learned a lot in a short time, but sadly Clarecraft announced their closure at the end of 2005. Luckily for me during the last months at Clarecraft as people left for alternative employment I was drafted in to help with anything and everything, I learned how to make moulds, cast resin and pewter, operate an airbrush properly, pretty much every process of moulding, casting and painting resin figurines. So, by the time Clarecraft closed, I had a working knowledge of how to manufacture my own items, which I did for the next six years as well as painting and drawing portraits, animal portraits, houses, landscapes and all sorts of fantasy pictures too. As time went on I yearned more and more to be designing again rather than spending all my time manufacturing (very dusty and smelly!) and as luck would have it I landed a job as a Designer in a traditional fine furniture makers...amazing!!!
I still paint, draw and sculpt in my spare time on a commission basis as well as just for fun. I also still make my figurines and Discworld Artefacts. Its much nicer now as its a hobby again and I'm back having fun.
When I'm not working I enjoy a good walk, the odd run (very odd, lots of flailing arms and legs) I play guitar and Didgeridoo and Native American Flute, I like to visit Ancient sites such as Avebury and Sutton Hoo, I enjoy a good read and collect books...no kindle for me! .
So, that's me. I hope you like my site and I hope you find something interesting.
Best wishes, Mark
Hello, I'm Mark. I've always been interested in art and figurines,
I started life with a love of all things you put together, first Lego then Airfix kits then lots and lots and lots of other kits, I also used to draw and paint at every opportunity, my school rough books were testament to that, with the longest running cartoon in the school sprawling over five of them! Otherwise I went through school averagely and got thrown out of art college (this seems to happen to anyone who ends up in a career in any sort of art or design) and ended up following my Dads' lead studying building at college which in turn landed me with a number of jobs all in the building industry all of which seemed to lead me away from what I really loved.
Throughout all of this I still painted pictures and dreamed of escaping from the building industry for a career in art and design. Time went on and by the time I was forty I'd been working at a Stonemasons as a Draughtsman for 13 years, during this time I'd tried my hand at sculpting and, to my surprise, I'd made a reasonable job of it. I carried on sculpting whenever I could, usually evenings weekends, holidays; whenever I had the chance I was squidging bits of modelling clay and trying to make them look like the pictures in my head. After much work and a few lucky breaks I managed to obtain my licence from Terry Pratchett to produce Discworld artefacts and later I was commissioned, by the figurine manufacturer Clarecraft, to sculpt Discworld figurines and finally ended up working with Clarecraft sculpting my own ranges, finally I was back on track.
The next few years at Clarecraft were very creative and I learned a lot in a short time, but sadly Clarecraft announced their closure at the end of 2005. Luckily for me during the last months at Clarecraft as people left for alternative employment I was drafted in to help with anything and everything, I learned how to make moulds, cast resin and pewter, operate an airbrush properly, pretty much every process of moulding, casting and painting resin figurines. So, by the time Clarecraft closed, I had a working knowledge of how to manufacture my own items, which I did for the next six years as well as painting and drawing portraits, animal portraits, houses, landscapes and all sorts of fantasy pictures too. As time went on I yearned more and more to be designing again rather than spending all my time manufacturing (very dusty and smelly!) and as luck would have it I landed a job as a Designer in a traditional fine furniture makers...amazing!!!
I still paint, draw and sculpt in my spare time on a commission basis as well as just for fun. I also still make my figurines and Discworld Artefacts. Its much nicer now as its a hobby again and I'm back having fun.
When I'm not working I enjoy a good walk, the odd run (very odd, lots of flailing arms and legs) I play guitar and Didgeridoo and Native American Flute, I like to visit Ancient sites such as Avebury and Sutton Hoo, I enjoy a good read and collect books...no kindle for me! .
So, that's me. I hope you like my site and I hope you find something interesting.
Best wishes, Mark
