About me

Mark Bonello didn’t follow the conventional route to becoming a professional fine artist. Born in 1973, in the East End of London, Mark was only interested in two things. Drawing and painting like his mother, and escaping London at the earliest possible opportunity. Marks young adulthood was spent travelling to the far corners of the globe, with only one aim. To see as much as possible of the planet we call home. It wasn’t until this thirst was satiated that he found himself needing a new direction, but this didn’t come until much later in life. It was only as he entered his late 40’s that he started to believe in himself and see, that with his talent, a career as a painter wasn’t just fantasy but reality.

Having no formal artistic education other than visiting the art galleries of London, Paris, Rome, Glasgow and Madrid, Mark took his inspiration from many artists from movements such as The Glasgow Boys, The Scottish Colourists, The Ash Can and Impressionists. But his “direction” came from an artist very close to his heart. Vincent Van Gogh. “Whenever I doubt myself, whenever my courage fails me, I read Vincent’s letters. It’s HIS words I hear ringing out in my moments of gloom” ‘ …the really passionate painter who is daring who once and for all has broken that spell of “you cannot… “‘

Despite only painting seriously since 2018, Mark has exhibited at the RUA, the RSMA and the ROI. Mark also appeared as a contestant on The People’s Painter (BBC NI 2018) And The Sky Landscape Artist of The Year 2022.