Brill painter Mark Fennell chosen for Royal Society annual exhibition

If you'd like to see more of Marks Brilliant work and a full interview with him, please click here. The Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition will be on display at Mall Galleries from 20 to 29 February.

The selected painting - The Diagnosis is a self portrait that was executed in oils with palette knives and painted after the devastating news of a lymphoma diagnosis.

After being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in December 2016, Mark decided to “change his life for the better” and worked towards ending a long career in advertising to pursue a life as an artist.

In 2018, Mark was diagnosed with a more aggressive form of lymphoma, which needed a grueling 18-week course of chemotherapy followed by radio therapy.

He created an emotive series of portraits documenting various stages of the treatment, all painted from his studio in Brill.

He works predominantly in oils, notable sitters include Antony Worrall Thompson, John Hood, Lord Mayor of Birmingham and singer - songwriter John Otway.

His work has been also been selected for exhibition with The Royal Society of Portrait Painters at the Mall galleries London on a number of occasions.

Mark was elected member of The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists in 2007.

He is also a member of Buckinghamshire Art Society and was elected member Oxford art society in 2018.

Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition 2020 will take place at the Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1 www.mallgalleries.org.ukOpen 20 to 29 February, 10am to 5pm

Admission £5, Free to Friends of Mall Galleries and Under 25s.