Illustrator, map maker
You can tell Mark Cowie is creative as soon as you walk into his house. Surrounded by a mix of furniture and curiosities that he’s inherited, found-in-a-tip, picked up for a score in a charity shop, that sort of thing. Harmonious and curated but not matching, reflective of him and his personality rather than anything learned or affected.
Brought up in West London, he’s got that unique mix of strong moral values alongside a total lack of snobbery. Cowie’s since lived in Chesham for many years and seems to know almost everyone. It must take him an hour to walk down Chesham High Street for all the friends who stop him for a chat along the way.
By trade he is an award-winning garden designer working in London and the Home Counties, with his garden designs ranging from residential homes to corporate settings, the grounds of grand manor houses and the postage stamp plots of humble terraces. Noel Gallagher and other high brow celebrities can be counted among his clients.
But there’s more to Mark than garden design
Cowie may well be an acclaimed garden designer but his real art is his illustration. He is locally known for his interpretations of everyday life through his characterful pen and ink drawings, and in particular, his local maps. Or perhaps more accurately, his bonkers spatial representations of Chesham and surrounding areas.
Looking at his garden blueprints, you can see how his technical drawing abilities have influenced his artistic style which all started as “just a bit of fun” and if you live in Chesham, you’ve probably seen his illustrations in various local eateries, drinkeries and pubs. And quite possibly got deeply lost following one of his maps.
“My husband went for a walk using one of your maps as a navigational aid. He left the house over eight days ago, and there have been no sightings of him since. Thank you so much.”
– A real quote from a real Chesham resident
What sets Cowie apart is his ability to see beyond the immediate and the obvious and translate it into satirical, fun-poking, clever illustrations that give a little insight into the workings of Cowie’s brain. It looks like a cool world in there where you can get an Oasis ticket for 50p, travel on a clockwork London Underground, get your shoes fixed at a drive-thru shoe repair, and buy an apple from the Apple Store. Importantly, there’s a Grinder app to help you find the best coffee and if you live in Chesham you can hire a sedan to take the weight off when shopping.
Working from his home-based loft studio in Chesham, a treasure-trove of creativity in itself, Cowie draws from both his local environment and his London roots for inspiration. From his studio he can look out and see the Chiltern Hills beyond the rooftops while down the road is the Metropolitan line gateway to the London Underground.
His map “Chesham-on-Sea’, displayed in the window at JPS stationery shop, famously attracted the overheard genuine sigh “What a shame” in response to the clearly bonkers ‘fact’ that in 2059, all the original town of Chesham is now under water. Cowie’s nod to climate change and the local resignation that some roads in Chesham become rivers under heavy rain.
A few of Cowie’s London maps have been reviewed in Londonist, including The London Map which features a variety of London-centric facts including what a typical Cockney looks like if you didn’t know, and the popular Football Map which documents little known truths that have got Cowie into a bit of hot water with a few die-hard football fans. He also gives us a rare glimpse underground, in his latest series ‘The World Beneath’, which includes a view below the Tudor revival foundations of the renowned department store Liberty, a location yet to be featured by any secret-London instagram account.
Cowie is a guitarist too, and having been a stage lighting technician in a previous life, working with big bands including Peter Gabriel and some prog rock bands that most of us have probably forgotten about or never heard of, there’s a tribute to this musical history in his triptych, Music on the Metropolitan Line, which takes us on a famous musician journey from Zone 9-1, travelling from urban London through suburbia, finally reaching Chesham country. Who knew that Gary Numan visited Uxbridge in 1977, or that Noel Gallagher lived in Little Chalfont but moved away? Fascinating actual facts.
Want to see more of Cowie’s world?
If you’d like more then a glimpse into Cowie’s brain, you can see his work on Instagram @cowie_illustrator.
You can buy Cowie’s work, usually at around £40 for a print, and adorn your walls with art that’s guaranteed to start a chuckle and a conversation. They make great gifts.
Contact Mark at cowiedesign@btinternet.com and he’ll sort you out.
And if you ever visit Chesham, remember to take a Cowie map so you can’t find your way back out.
Chesham Tales 