Tynemouth artist and Coxswain Mark Taylor on his twin inspirations – his late father and the north-east coastline

For artist and Coxswain Mark Taylor, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He takes great inspiration from his late father, who was a successful artist and helped save lives at sea on Blyth lifeboat. 

Not only did Mark grow up watching his father race down to the lifeboat station, he also enjoyed watching him paint. This ignited Mark’s love for the sea and north-east coastline – both of which went on to have a huge influence on his career.

In this episode, Mark talks about how he continues his father’s legacy through his seascape paintings and work on the Severn class lifeboats, and how he felt after his most memorable rescue. 

200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI 

Interview by Adventurous Audio 

Soundtrack composed and performed by Jon Nicholls 

The RNLI is a charity celebrating 200 years of saving lives at sea - find out more at RNLI.org/200