Ed Org was born in Shropshire in 1955. His father was Estonian – a Baltic state of forests and lakes – a truly Pagan country. He experienced an idyllic childhood amongst woods, fields, secret pools and ruined barns, all of which have long since disappeared under what is now Telford New Town. His talent showed itself at an early age. He was considered to be a “difficult” pupil at school but was saved on numerous occasions by art teachers showing his work round the staff common room.
In 1973 he attended a Foundation Course at Shrewsbury College of Art. His first year was marred by the death of his father and was very difficult to get through. He did not feel very inspired even though he knew he had a talent for art. Then he read JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and found that finally he had found something to fire up his imagination. There followed several detailed pencil drawings based on the book that had kick-started his imagination. From there on there was no holding him back and his work just got better and better.
From 1976 to 1979 he undertook a BA Fine Art course at Cheltenham College of Art. He was faced with a total disinterest in what he wanted to do as an artist but persisted in the area and style he wanted to work in., This culminated in him putting up a BA show base entirely on ‘The Lord of the Rings’. At this BA show he sold a number of pieces, including ‘Galadriel’ which was bought by an Australian collector.
Leaving college, he worked for several years in Advertising as an illustrator and graphic designer as a great many art graduates do (although somewhere along the way he also managed to work for awhile cutting grass for the local council which is rather more unique and, in its way, quite apt).
By the early nineties he was longing to do the work he really wanted to do and this resulted in him concentrating a lot more on this area. By 1993 he was into the stride of the work that was to carry him forward for many years. During his time as a graphic designer he had acquired an interest in medieval re-enactment, which had resulted in thousands of photos of knights and damsels. He started producing his own work inspired by romantic mythological themes. These include the massive triptych ‘The Wife of Llleu’ and also the large ‘In The Valley of Morgana Le Fay’. These large pieces can take up to eighteen months to draw (most of this style of work is pencil only). The landscapes used for the settings of his pieces generally come from Devon and The Lake District as well as his local woodland.
He has, as might be expected, been in great demand for commissioned pieces and, amongst others, his commissions have included the corporate design for Wychwood Brewery’s ’Hobgoblin’ beer. He also designed ‘Fiddlers Elbow’, ‘Black Wych’ , ‘Old Devil’, and ‘Oberon’ amongst others. This coloured work is different to his pencil work and is more influenced by the style of Arthur Rackham. Along with Willy Pogany and Charles Robinson etc he is one of the ‘Golden Age’ of book illustrators that Ed admires.
The detail and subtlety of his pencil work has gained him a wide following of art lovers all over the world and his work is always in great demand.
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