Mark Brown
Capturing Light Through Glass
Plying his trade as a professional artist since 2000, Mark Brown is considered an artist at the forefront of the movement for contemporary realism. An artist since his youth, Mark painted regularly and passionately - cars, animals, things from his imagination which he would breathe to life with his steady hand and keen eye. Visiting museums as a child, Mark was constantly fascinated by the detail and rich coloring of the works of the Dutch Masters. It was this fascination that inspired him to practice more, work harder at his craft, in an attempt to mimic that intense, lifelike, beauty.
Rose Bowl, 20x32
If the Dutch Masters of the Renaissance were the driving inspiration behind Mark's pursuit of perfection in still life, it is both the wonder of modern techniques and Mark's own exacting temperament that allowed him to surpass them. He attended the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, joining the ranks of such notable alumni as Mary Cassatt and Maxfield Parrish. While at the academy he continued to hone his craft, focusing on form and light, perfecting the process of layering glaze upon glaze to capture the light reflection off the canvas surface.
Mark's work has won many awards from many prestigious organizations including the Oil Painters of America, and he has been selected as a finalist three times for the Artist's Magazine annual competition. He and his family travel regularly, exhibiting his work at shows and artists salons across the country. With such a busy schedule of exhibitions, it's a wonder that Mark is able to take the time to paint at all much less engage in his lengthy process of observation and reflection before he even puts brush to canvas. While he does enjoy the freedom of plein-air painting, the majority of Mark's work is done in a studio under carefully controlled conditions. It is these conditions that allow him to take his time with the work, truly engage with the objects he is painting. There is a spirituality to Mark's work which he admits is an important part of the process, the engagement with the intricacies of creation and the dignity and beauty of everything in the world.
