Mackenzie Thorpe was born and raised in an industrial town in northern England and today lives in a charming Yorkshire village of Richmond among the friends and family he depicts with such tenderness, passion and humor. Mackenzie, who is dyslexic, relies on his artwork to guide him in his life. "Drawing was my escape. I've drawn all my life, whether it was with pencils on discarded cigarette packets or what I'm doing now." Many of the images in the Hanson Gallery collection, all created with pastels that Thorpe makes in his small studio, have an almost childlike appeal.

His work takes us to his early days in the Yorkshire shipyards, or more recent days spent playing with his children; but in every case, they are a vivid expression of the challenges we all face, the victories we achieve, and most importantly, the hope we carry within our hearts.

Thorpe's popularity has created a collectors' frenzy in some corners of the art world and include such celebrities as Elton John, former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman and Princess Anne. However, he is anything but pretentious about his popularity as he talks in a heavy dialect about growing up in the poverty in industrial Middlesbrough, the oldest of seven children, his struggle with dyslexia and his despair and suicide attempt at 17 when he was laid off from his shipyard laborer's job. His phrases are laced with words more likely to be heard in pubs than art galleries. Thorpe's work sometimes has a dark side, showing faceless working-class figures. But odd shapes and eccentric vantages help retain a playful tone that his fans find irresistible and his work sells so fast these days Thorpe can't keep up with demand.