Artist Feature - Norwegian Stamp Engraving Artist Martin Mörck

Born into an artist family, within an artist community Martin Mörck was encouraged by his parents to follow his heart from a young age. His mother would quote “You don’t have any reason to get bored if you have a pencil in hand.” Martin’s father, as well as being an artist, was also a keen philatelist and from him Martin developed a love of stamps. 

Following in his parents' creative footsteps, Martin was only 12 when he began engraving his first lines, and 15 years old when he realised that he wanted to become a master engraver, a path that would mean studying the original engraving masters from the early fifteenth century. 

At 16, Martin enrolled in engraving evening classes, he also undertook a year of stone building, as he’d always had an interest in stone art. After a year spent on developing his stone building understanding, he undertook two years of art school, before leaving, confident that he had learnt all he wanted from the school.

After gaining a number of technical skills, Martin landed a job at the Swedish Post which gave him an understanding of the postal system, building both his artistic and philatelic skills. Ultimately, Martin’s goal was to pursue his art career full time, an aim that would need initial funding which led to a short but inspiring time working on a fishing trawler. Somewhat inevitably, Martin enrolled back into school, in order to learn how to build boats and vessels, fuelling his love of engraving ships and boats. As his father would say “Only two things in the world have to be created in perfect harmony, music and ships.”

Fast forwarding to the present day, Martins's enduring love of engraving has formed the cornerstone of his celebrated artistic career, particularly within philatelic circles.  Driven by a desire to keep the art alive, Martin is committed to engraving the original way eschewing digital methods in favour of traditional techniques, a process which Martin enjoys immeasurably and he believes may leave him the ‘last man standing’ in traditional terms.

When asked about his favourite subject matter, Martin describes a love of all things organic. From people, to animals to ships; Martin loves expressing life through his chosen art style and takes great pride in bringing all of the little characters and quirks of the subjects into full light. 

Jersey Post has commissioned Martin for a number of stamp issues, confident in his superior engraving skill and delighted as always by his unique art, and selected him again for 2023’s final Royal issue.  

Asked about the issue The Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, Martin commented, “The stamp issue was a challenge, but an enjoyable one. A reason for this is the number of references that are available for a such prominent figure as His Majesty King Charles III, which makes little room for error within a portrait.” 

It's always a delight for Jersey Post to work with Martin Mörck, and we look forward to having his input in many future issues. Keep an eye out for an issue in 2024 once again featuring Martin Mörck’s unique engraving style and a captivating thematic!