Mark Clay
@mrclayox.bsky.social
Husband. Father. Charity Worker. Volunteer. Music and literature lover. Cat dad. Meta refugee.
Award-winning artist exploring memory, experience & mutability, especially in landscape; combining the systematic & the poetic. Oxford, UK.
Award-winning artist exploring memory, experience & mutability, especially in landscape; combining the systematic & the poetic. Oxford, UK.
What a treat it was to be in the Lake District last weekend and see Helvellyn and Red Tarn in winter conditions. Definitely not a day to tackle Striding Edge though. The sun was glorious but the wind chill was brutal.
December 2, 2025 at 7:24 AM
What a treat it was to be in the Lake District last weekend and see Helvellyn and Red Tarn in winter conditions. Definitely not a day to tackle Striding Edge though. The sun was glorious but the wind chill was brutal.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends.
November 28, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends.
I'm told that it's #NationalTreeWeek, so here is "Moonrise", a private commission from 2022. There is a layer of pastel colour beneath my usual profusion of graphite 🤗. I'm currently working on a new commission that I won't be able to show for a while. 🤐
#archive
#drawing
#pencildrawing
#archive
#drawing
#pencildrawing
November 27, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I'm told that it's #NationalTreeWeek, so here is "Moonrise", a private commission from 2022. There is a layer of pastel colour beneath my usual profusion of graphite 🤗. I'm currently working on a new commission that I won't be able to show for a while. 🤐
#archive
#drawing
#pencildrawing
#archive
#drawing
#pencildrawing
Another 2 drawings of "A Never-Ending Way (Vol. 3)" are now complete. These are numbers 76 & 77.
I am grateful for the slowness and gentleness of this project. I expect I shall feel rather bereft when this project is finally completed in about 5 months time.
#drawing
I am grateful for the slowness and gentleness of this project. I expect I shall feel rather bereft when this project is finally completed in about 5 months time.
#drawing
November 22, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Another 2 drawings of "A Never-Ending Way (Vol. 3)" are now complete. These are numbers 76 & 77.
I am grateful for the slowness and gentleness of this project. I expect I shall feel rather bereft when this project is finally completed in about 5 months time.
#drawing
I am grateful for the slowness and gentleness of this project. I expect I shall feel rather bereft when this project is finally completed in about 5 months time.
#drawing
Sometimes you just have to make something that makes you laugh.
"Face Cream" (2016).
"Face Cream" (2016).
November 20, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Sometimes you just have to make something that makes you laugh.
"Face Cream" (2016).
"Face Cream" (2016).
Thanks so much to all the team at Oxford's Broad Canvas for giving the chance to show some of my drawings in their Little Gallery. It opens on Monday and runs to the end of November. Do pop in and have a look and buy some pens before I snaffle them all. 😁
#drawing
#artexhibition
#oxford
#broadcanvas
#drawing
#artexhibition
#oxford
#broadcanvas
November 9, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Thanks so much to all the team at Oxford's Broad Canvas for giving the chance to show some of my drawings in their Little Gallery. It opens on Monday and runs to the end of November. Do pop in and have a look and buy some pens before I snaffle them all. 😁
#drawing
#artexhibition
#oxford
#broadcanvas
#drawing
#artexhibition
#oxford
#broadcanvas
"The Man Who Disappeared" (2018).
#Halloween is an infantile affair. We dress up in cheap costumes, and hide our real fears with sickly sweets and clichés. Real, bigger terrors are still there, lurking just under the surface, though. But we don't allow ourselves to think about those.
#drawing
#Halloween is an infantile affair. We dress up in cheap costumes, and hide our real fears with sickly sweets and clichés. Real, bigger terrors are still there, lurking just under the surface, though. But we don't allow ourselves to think about those.
#drawing
October 31, 2025 at 8:20 AM
"The Man Who Disappeared" (2018).
#Halloween is an infantile affair. We dress up in cheap costumes, and hide our real fears with sickly sweets and clichés. Real, bigger terrors are still there, lurking just under the surface, though. But we don't allow ourselves to think about those.
#drawing
#Halloween is an infantile affair. We dress up in cheap costumes, and hide our real fears with sickly sweets and clichés. Real, bigger terrors are still there, lurking just under the surface, though. But we don't allow ourselves to think about those.
#drawing
This double page #drawing is number 69 of "A Never-Ending Way (Vol.3)". The low, autumn light breaking through the trees makes for delightful contrasts of light and shade that are as challenging and absorbing to depict as they are beautiful.
October 26, 2025 at 8:18 AM
This double page #drawing is number 69 of "A Never-Ending Way (Vol.3)". The low, autumn light breaking through the trees makes for delightful contrasts of light and shade that are as challenging and absorbing to depict as they are beautiful.
Drawings 67 and 68 of "A Never-Ending Way (Vol. 3)" are complete. This little section of the Hinksey Heights Nature Trail (Oxford, UK) is quite sketchy: I love the sense of exploration and remoteness it offers, as well as the challenge of capturing it on paper.
#drawing
#landscapedrawing
#drawing
#landscapedrawing
October 11, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Drawings 67 and 68 of "A Never-Ending Way (Vol. 3)" are complete. This little section of the Hinksey Heights Nature Trail (Oxford, UK) is quite sketchy: I love the sense of exploration and remoteness it offers, as well as the challenge of capturing it on paper.
#drawing
#landscapedrawing
#drawing
#landscapedrawing
September 29, 2025 at 9:23 PM
I'm at last able to resume work on Volume 3 of "A Never-Ending Way". Drawings 65 and 66 are now complete. The Hinksey Heights Nature Trail, near Oxford, is quite indistinct at this point.
I've been happily absorbed for many an hour with this pair, especially working on the dense foliage.
#drawing
I've been happily absorbed for many an hour with this pair, especially working on the dense foliage.
#drawing
September 28, 2025 at 12:10 PM
I'm at last able to resume work on Volume 3 of "A Never-Ending Way". Drawings 65 and 66 are now complete. The Hinksey Heights Nature Trail, near Oxford, is quite indistinct at this point.
I've been happily absorbed for many an hour with this pair, especially working on the dense foliage.
#drawing
I've been happily absorbed for many an hour with this pair, especially working on the dense foliage.
#drawing
September 25, 2025 at 10:09 PM
The 2025 Oxford Art Society Open Exhibition opens today at the Kendrew Barn, St. John's College Oxford, 11am-6pm. The standard is top notch as always, so I'm very happy that "A Never-Ending Way Vol. 1" has been selected.
September 20, 2025 at 10:52 AM
The 2025 Oxford Art Society Open Exhibition opens today at the Kendrew Barn, St. John's College Oxford, 11am-6pm. The standard is top notch as always, so I'm very happy that "A Never-Ending Way Vol. 1" has been selected.
September 16, 2025 at 6:33 AM
I've finished #Drawing 62, in between feeling ill, and Vol. 3 of "A Never-Ending Way" advances further. The latest drawings have taken me longer than normal, perhaps because the Trail is thick with late summer foliage right now.
Heres drawings 61 and 62.
Heres drawings 61 and 62.
September 1, 2025 at 9:12 PM
I've finished #Drawing 62, in between feeling ill, and Vol. 3 of "A Never-Ending Way" advances further. The latest drawings have taken me longer than normal, perhaps because the Trail is thick with late summer foliage right now.
Heres drawings 61 and 62.
Heres drawings 61 and 62.
Apparently it's #GingerCatAppreciationDay, so here's this absolute unit. We do love him though. ❤️
#Gingerberk
#Gingerberk
September 1, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Apparently it's #GingerCatAppreciationDay, so here's this absolute unit. We do love him though. ❤️
#Gingerberk
#Gingerberk
I drew this in 2017 and it applies even more now. And I got told off by my Mum for swearing.
#sketching
#sketching
August 27, 2025 at 6:23 AM
I drew this in 2017 and it applies even more now. And I got told off by my Mum for swearing.
#sketching
#sketching
I'm gaining momentum with Vol. 3 of "A Never-Ending Way", my long term project to create a drawn walk of Hinksey Heights Nature Reserve using four concertina sketchbooks.
I've now completed Drawings 58-60.
#drawing
I've now completed Drawings 58-60.
#drawing
August 25, 2025 at 6:34 AM
I'm gaining momentum with Vol. 3 of "A Never-Ending Way", my long term project to create a drawn walk of Hinksey Heights Nature Reserve using four concertina sketchbooks.
I've now completed Drawings 58-60.
#drawing
I've now completed Drawings 58-60.
#drawing
It's good to look back on old work. This is "A Crack In The Record" part of my body of work for my MFA. The copper ink is flaming gloriously in the light of a sunset.
The #drawing is inspired by my exploration of the currently disused railway line to #Amlwch, on the island of #YnysMon (#Anglesey).
The #drawing is inspired by my exploration of the currently disused railway line to #Amlwch, on the island of #YnysMon (#Anglesey).
August 22, 2025 at 7:16 PM
After a holiday break, Volume 3 of "A Never-Ending Way" is now in progress, with the completion of Drawing 58. In the full heat of a summer of heatwaves, I'm turning back to begin the return, heading towards the place where this project started back in November 2024.
August 14, 2025 at 5:59 AM
After a holiday break, Volume 3 of "A Never-Ending Way" is now in progress, with the completion of Drawing 58. In the full heat of a summer of heatwaves, I'm turning back to begin the return, heading towards the place where this project started back in November 2024.
I've got a red admiral on my plums.
August 9, 2025 at 12:40 PM
I've got a red admiral on my plums.