Biography:Martin Faulkner

(John) Martin Faulkner (born June 6, 1964, in London) is an English artist and therapist who as an illustrator and designer has specialized in Art Deco, and was a pioneer of the British vintage movement in the 1980s.

A winner in the National Portraiture Foundation Sir Charles Wheeler Award in 1979, he went on to study at the Herts College of Art and Design at St. Albans. He started his career painting murals and making novelty 'character' signs. Faulkner worked his way up from paste-up artist at a small Hertfordshire advertising agency, to designer/visualiser with a design consultancy in Covent Garden, London's creative centre of the time, and became a freelance illustrator published in magazines such as Punch, Radio Times, Country Life, and Best of British. His clients included advertising agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, and fashion labels such as Pepe. The quality of his work was recognised by his corporate design for Sam Walker Vintage Clothing being included in the showcase publication The Best of British Retail Design in the mid-Nineties.

His passion for the era of the 1920s to 1940s and the expertise he acquired has led him to specialise in re-creating the style of that period: his subject matter ranges from portraits and scenes to mechanical subjects, particularly steam trains and vintage cars. It also inspired his work as a designer of vintage fashions and sets.

Adopting the Art Deco lifestyle lead him to swing music and ballroom dancing, and one decade of his career was spent pursuing professionally what started as a keen leisure interest: first as one half of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers-inspired 1930s dance cabaret act Ruby Fox & Johnny Martin for five years, entertaining at high society venues, among them The Cliveden Club and The Waldorf, backed by top nostalgic/swing bands including The Pasadena Roof Orchestra, and then as principal male dancer and design director of the historical dance and drama company Baroque 'n' Roll for eight years. This opened the way to various period TV dramas such as Agatha Christie's Poirot, produced by LWT for ITV, and The House of Eliott for the BBC; it also led him into the heritage and education sectors, where he taught dance and social history to pupils from primary age to adult groups, working for various well-known heritage sites including Museum of London, National Portrait Gallery, Imperial War Museum and National Maritime Museum.

After a year spent in Canada exploring his interest in psychology, and building on his experiences in the educational sector, Faulkner trained as a therapist. Having adapted the name John from his stage name he now lives in Downham Market, Norfolk, working as both an artist-designer and NLP-practitioner/hypnotherapist.

See also

• Ruby Fox & Johnny Martin

References

• "Two For The Tango" – ArtEast, March 1989 pages 10–11
• "Back to an Era of Style" – Best of British, June 2001 page 12-13
• "Martin's Art Of Time" – Southend Echo, July 26, 2002
• "Martin's new direction" – Downham News September 2007 page 18

External links

• "Tripping the light fantastic" – Herts & Essex Observer, September 17, 1987
• "Dust off your dancing shoes for the jitterbug" – Hertfordshire Mercury, October 23, 1987, page 6
• Take Your Partner" – The Stage & Television Today, October 13, 1988, page 25
• "A Step In Time" – The Observer, September 7, 1989
• The Good Old Days" – Sawbridgeworth Citizen, July 14, 1993, page 14
• "Family favourites?" - New Times, February 1994
• "Dancing For All Ages" – Evening Echo, June 22, 1998, page 15
• "Profile: Riverside Antiques Centre" – Antiques, issue no. 804 1999 page 57
• "Retrospective view of Living in The Past" – Leigh Times, July 16, 2002, page 21
• "New business to beat new year blues" – Downham Market Life, Feb/March 2009 page 17
• "Teaming up...for tailor-made services" – Downham News, June 2009 page 19
• "Karen Hypnotised To Hate Chocolate!" - Downham News, November 2009, page 2