Biographical Notes

This website hopes to introduce both Mark's art and his writing. With his Buddhist writing (and now his Buddhist paintings) he uses his Buddhist name, Jun Jieh.

With his art, he is very much influenced by places he has lived, especially Albania, Nepal, and Taiwan, and places where he spent time more than just brief holidays, such as India and China.  Because of his experience living in, and embracing, different cultures and traditions, he feels unrestricted by time, place, local expectations, or politics, and strives for his own unique style which can cross borders of geography, culture, and history. Mark has stated that he has little time for those who expect a certain style simply because that is the current trend, talked up to be intellectually superior, yet lacking in any true artistic talent. Mark believes that good art should be timeless, and based on a solid foundation.  "A good piece of art, whilst it may depict something specific to time and place, should still be relevant as a painting in a hundred years time". This philosophy of approach carries through all his paintings, including his Buddhist work where he strives to merge different traditions and techniques to provide unique works of art. He works predominantly in oil or acrylic paint, but occasionally also works in watercolour or pastel. Whatever the medium he chooses to use, or whatever the subject matter might be, Mark explores his inner feelings in his work, often combining his spiritual practice with his painting. However, whilst he sometimes displays a brief explanation next to his paintings, he prefers to do no more than allude to, and hint at, his own feelings and motivation, and listen to what the viewer understands from his work. Mark strives to create what he calls a "vibration" in his paintings and considers it a success if it "speaks" to the viewer, and if the viewer continues to enjoy looking at it repeatedly, returning again and again, whatever the subject matter might be, and still feeling something special. 

​

Mark has had numerous articles printed in various newspapers and magazines around the world, and currently has had five books published. These will be introduced in the relevant section of this website. It should be noted that the three Buddhist themed books were published using his name, Jun Jieh. His writing methodology and aims are not dissimilar to his approach to his art. He strives for his own style, approachable, readable, but with layers of depth. In other words, whilst some might read his books (especially those with a Buddhist theme) almost like a chat with the author over a cup of coffee, there is a greater depth to be found. His hope therefore is to write books which readers will enjoy returning to again and again.