Mark Sheeky, b. 1972, artist, lives and works in Crewe, Cheshire, United Kingdom.

As a child, computer programming was my obsession, and I worked in solitude on this for about two decades. I began publishing my own software in 2002 and founded a sound effects library. In 2004 I began oil painting and decided to devote the rest of my life to art. I continue to pursue this full time with love, determination, perfectionism, and the highest aspirations. For me, art defines civilisation and showcases the best of humanity.

I am active in all areas of art. I love classical art and I prefer to paint in oils in many layers, to a high quality of finish and detail, portraying complex ideas and powerful emotions. In a digital world, real physical beauty that no machine can match is more important than ever. One could describe my work as surrealist, but to me the content is simply imaginative. I've always wanted to portray feelings and ideas that a camera cannot. I don't ascribe to the theories of the unconscious espoused by Freud, or Breton and the Surrealists, but of course, I totally concur with the power of dreams and the deeper mind as the source of creativity.

As well as a painter, I currently produce an arts TV show for YouTube called ArtSwarm, and compose and perform as a pianist, including as part of music duo Fall in Green. I founded a record label in 1999 or so and have released 30 albums to date. I publish books with the imprint Pentangel Books, and have published poetry, imaginative fiction and an academic book on art, as well as illustrated many books for others. As a performer, I co-curate a monthly art cabaret in Macclesfield and I often collaborate. I am eternally active, seeking, striving.

Emotion is the root of great art, and like a Romantic composer I want to display feelings, skill, and imagination, and strive to master my skills. I reject what is easy and automated. Art must always push boundaries because only the new is interesting. Success, for me, is dynamism and passion, not stability and security.

My instincts are rebellious and my artistic heroes are Ludwig van Beethoven, I sympathise with his struggle and I love his music, and Ingmar Bergman, for his great intellectual insight into relationships and the human condition.