About the Artist

“When the work takes over, then the artist is enabled to get out of the way, not to interfere.

When the work takes over, then the artist listens.”

― Madeleine L'Engle

Since childhood, Mark has loved the wonder and detail of nature, whether the light on the abstract shapes of a landscape or the dazzle of drops on a duck’s feathers.  Later he discovered the same appreciation in the works of early Northern European painters like Jan Davidsz de Heem, Pieter Claesz, and Willem Van Aelst. 

He spent the first twelve years of his career as a scientific illustrator, background mural painter, and exhibits technician for a natural history museum in the Midwest United States.  During these years he became proficient in various mediums including oil, watercolor, ink, colored pencil, as well as various specialized illustration techniques.

After this time, Mark started business on his own and has produced art and illustration for most of the years since.  He finished school with a BA in Linguistic Anthropology, and spent a number of years living and traveling in Asia with his late wife who was involved in literacy development, providing illustrations for reading primers, medical information, and language dictionaries.  He also taught basic illustration workshops in India and Nepal.  Partly as a result of this experience, he has also been inspired by a number of the “Orientalist” artists like Gerome, Regnault, Belly, Bauernfeind, and Ilya Repin.

Recently, Mark finished his training at The Atelier in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a school of studio practice in classical realism. He has also developed and interest in landscape painting, being inspired by Tonalist painters like George Inness and Charles W. Eaton.

Mark’s work has appeared in numerous books, science journals, and other publications over the years.  A retrospective was held at the University of Nebraska State Museum of natural history from 2014-2015.  He was also represented as a finalist in the still life category in the October/November 2015 issue of International Artist’s Magazine (p. 21). Mark's following artwork has been honored in the FAV15, the "Favorite 15%" by FASO and FineArtViews Staff Members, in the Bold Brush Painting Competition:

"Pitcher and Shells" - November, 2016"; Antique Car" - November, 2016; "Still Life with Macaw" - December, 2016; "Bouquet No. 3" - February, 2017; "Returning Home" - March, 2017; "Harvest" - April, 2017; "Threads of Color" - July, 2017; "Threads of Color" - October, 2017; "Memory's Song" - December, 2017; "Time" - January, 2018; "Winter Glow" - February 2018; "Lion Fish" - March, 2018; "Elegance from the Sea" - May, 2018; "Summer Pickings" - October, 2018: "Love Letters" - October, 2018; "Scrabble Chips Jar" - November, 2018; and "Tropical Delight" - January, 2019.

Mark currently lives with his wife in Burnsville, Minnesota, where they enjoy hiking and exploring the outdoors.