My dear friend and photographer Gabriele Rigon thinks he is the luckiest man alive - for he gets to photograph the most beautiful women on earth - but, in fact, I am the luckiest man alive! I not only get to photograph the girls but I get to paint them too!

About 5 years ago I reached a crossroads in my life. I was weary of the design work I had been doing for the last 15 years - my work had become so "easy", almost automatic, the fun, challenges and above all the passion had left it. Most men in this situation either buy themselves a "super-bike" or run off with the maid - I didn'...

My dear friend and photographer Gabriele Rigon thinks he is the luckiest man alive - for he gets to photograph the most beautiful women on earth - but, in fact, I am the luckiest man alive! I not only get to photograph the girls but I get to paint them too!

About 5 years ago I reached a crossroads in my life. I was weary of the design work I had been doing for the last 15 years - my work had become so "easy", almost automatic, the fun, challenges and above all the passion had left it. Most men in this situation either buy themselves a "super-bike" or run off with the maid - I didn't do either of those.

I did, however, spend months in the doldrums - soul searching...

..I started to think long and hard about the skills I had aquired and what I was truly passionate about - what was it that really fired my imagination? After all my time as a designer realisation eventually dawned and the answer was elegantly simple - I was passionate about "beauty" - but more importantly, I had learnt over those years that beauty is only a superficial presentation, what lay beneath the surface was more important - it wasn't just beauty it was "sensuality" that fired me!

I could paint you an Apple or a Zebra and they would be beautiful paintings - but not sensual, how could a "stripy cow" stir your emotions?

Sensuality is an esoteric concept, sadly not accesible to everyone and most often confused with "eroticism" and even "pornogaraphy" - many people simply "don't get it" - People that admire and buy my work are thinking, much like myself, on a much higher and individualistic level than the masses - many of my collectors have become personal friends - sharing ideas, emotions and the adventure...

..in my paintings I capture more than just the superficial - I capture your soul, you are no longer a simple voyeur looking in - you have become part of what you see, you can hear the river flowing, you can feel the sunlight, you can taste the fruit and smell the perfume - but my work runs even deeper than this - you'll feel the excitement, the aprehension, the tension, the sexuality and the passion too...

..set your heart free!

Mark Holland-Hicken