This is the new compact hardcover edition of Mark Hearld's Work Book, the first collection of the artist's beguiling art. The artist Mark Hearld finds his inspiration in the flora and fauna of the British countryside a blue-eyed jay perched on an oak branch two hares enjoying the spoils of an allotment a mute swan standing at the frozen water's edge and a sleek red fox prowling the fields. Hearld admires such twentieth-century artists as Edward Bawden, John Piper, Eric Ravilious and Enid Marx, and, like them, he chooses to work in a range of media - paint, print, collage, textiles and ceramics. The works are grouped into nature-related themes introduced by Hearld, who narrates the story behind some of his creations and discusses his influences. He explains his particular love of collage, which he favours for its graphic quality and potential for strong composition. Art historian Simon Martin contributes an essay on Hearld's place in the English popular-art tradition, and also meets Hea