David Marl
I have always been interested in story. I have been influenced by a range of artists and writers that tend to use narrative as part of their work; Blake, Palmer, Spencer. Always in landscape there is a story to be told or a scene that might inspire the viewer to imagine some narrative of their own. I enjoy creating a scene using components that I have been thinking about or are an important part of my life. Then like a subconscious jigsaw puzzle I put the pieces together.
When I am present in particular places, when I can feel the landscape and myself as part of it, then that is what I describe as the ‘thin place’. The Celts originated the term, referring to places where they felt that they had a particular spiritual impact as ‘thin places’.
David Marl
At the gates of heaven
Reproduction on paper 24.5 x 17.5 cm
I can see pathways in David’s paintings, but to me, curiously, I don’t feel that they are about the journey at all.
They’re about pause and rest. They’re about a moment when everything stops, and our imagination opens up to something beyond the tangible, to something much more real, though unseen; the invisible that you need faith to see. The Wonder of it all.
That’s why I was drawn to David’s work, particularly when he talked about moments when he felt close to something divine; ‘the thin place’ where he felt that communion with himself and his work. That is when the paintings are strongest.
That’s why I appreciate them because I recognise these moments of pause and sensation – I acknowledge something, a sense of connection and joy.
Glen Innes The Wonderbook
Available original works
Available prints
David Marl is part of our newly launched company McFarlane and Slade, a publisher of contemporary art posters. These will be published in the New Year and will be available fpr everyone’s pleasure.
Here are a few examples with links to his portfolio.
Two Men Turning Their Back On The Sun
The Annunciation
The Comet