During 1984 or 1985, Marcus was enrolled in an art foundation course at the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology. He was fortunate to receive a Bishop Laney Foundation award in that academic year, so he used the money to purchase a range of art materials, including watercolours and high-quality sable brushes.

Marcus used these materials extensively during his first degree, undertaken jointly at the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Art School, from 1986-1991. While his academic focus shifted to research in the field of Middle Eastern archaeology, he continued using brushes and other materials in the creation of technical drawings of finds from excavations and surveys. He still makes use of some of them more than thirty years after they were first purchased. Marcus was pleased to have an opportunity to acknowledge the help received, which he describes as “generous”, from The Bishop Laney Foundation.