Stacy Mark knew from a young age that he was passionate about the visual arts, and it wasn’t long before those around him knew it, too. By the time he was sixteen years old, Mark was already known in his hometown of Fargo, North Dakota as a skilled oil painter. After high school, he decided to continue his art studies formally and he graduated from North Dakota State University in 1996 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art, with a focus of studies in Painting and History.

It was while studying at NDSU that Mark was encouraged by a painting instructor to explore his experimental side. This encouragement has led to the style of Mark’s paintings to-day, which incorporate varied techniques and portray awareness and knowledge of a wide range of artistic styles and history. His work frequently reflects the influence of Wabi-Sabi, an ancient Japanese philosophy which proposes that age creates beauty. With this in mind, Mark makes his creations look both aged and timeless. Using primarily acrylic paints and archival hardboard panels, Mark creates impasto paintings with a great deal of texture; he uses anywhere from 20 to 50 layers of paint in each piece, applying – and eroding – them carefully to create an aged, textured effect. The finished product tends to impress upon the viewer the blurred line between the constructed and the organic natures of art.

Mark’s nature-inspired artwork has been well received and he has exhibited in a dozen juried, group, and solo exhibitions over the past few years. He has also been interviewed and had his paintings printed in a number of publications. Part of Mark’s appeal is in the combination of the concrete and the ethereal in his work, as he describes, “I paint enigmatic, adventuresome, freestyle landscapes. My paintings are built upon memories that I've enjoyed with nature, and I give each one a breath of life with nuances of my imagination.”