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ARTIST’S STATEMENT: Landscape is the cradle of life; warm in tone, wide-ranging in mood, from peaceful to powerful ("sublime" to the Romantics). Its elements are individually expressive: trees are alive, skies expansive, clouds dreamlike; while mountains are majestic, water moody and reflective. My first-love is painting outdoors “en plein air”, inspired by the 19th-century romantic tonalist landscape painters such as Bierstadt, Keith, Hill, Durand, Cole, and the slightly later Impressionists Edgar Payne and William Wendt, among many others. I call myself a tonal colorist. Building value and structure from direct observation of nature, I infuse my paintings with atmosphere and mystery, bold color and a sense of the abstract, creating a personal interpretation that involves the viewer’s imagination to achieve a universal, timeless, inspiring quality. As Magritte once said, "Art evokes the mystery without which life would not exist." As contemplative windows onto another side of life, the goal of my paintings is to bring a special beauty, peace, and reflection into our lives. ARTIST’S BACKGROUND: Mark Monsarrat, a plein air artist creating traditional oil landscape paintings inspired by the Hudson River School, Craftsman (Arts and Crafts), and Early California Impressionism styles, is a recent MFA graduate from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. A Renaissance Man with five college degrees and experience in engineering, business, and art, Mark sold his first painting at the age of 14. By 30, he left his birthplace Columbus, Ohio for historically rich San Francisco, earning his BFA from the California College of the Arts. Over a long and varied career as an artist, Mark created and sold fine drawings and prints as a San Francisco Street Artist engaging buyers from around the world, owned his own gallery, sold to gift shops, through galleries, and at weekend festivals throughout the Bay Area and the western United States. Fulfilling his original dream to be a serious landscape painter, Mark attended numerous plein-air workshops and paint-outs, as well as teaching, and finally returned to art school, earning his MFA (Master of Fine Arts) degree, focusing on traditional, high-quality plein-air and studio landscape paintings in oils. ARTIST’S RESUME: Education 2008-10 MFA (May 2010): Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA 1983-4 BFA: California College of the Arts 1969-74; 1978-80: BS, MSME; MBA: The Ohio State University Also Attended: 1995-9 San Francisco Art Institute; S.F. City College; Calif. College of the Arts 1981-2 San Francisco Academy of Art, San Francisco; S.F. City College 1968-70 Miami University of Ohio Awards 2009 3rd Place, Arizona Plein-Air Painters, Tubac, AZ 2008 Honorable Mention, Valona Paintout, Crockett, CA 1st Place and Honorable Mention, Mare Faire Plein-Air Competition, Mare Island, CA "Best of Mare Island”, Flyway Plein-Air Festival, Vallejo, CA 2nd Place, Lost Dutchman Plein-Air Paint-Out, Superstition Mtns., Phoenix, AZ 3rd Place, Acrylics, Indian Wells Arts Festival, CA. 2007 1st Place, Acrylics, Art Affaire, Rancho Mirage, CA 2005 2nd in Show (1st in painting category), Art Festival, Mammoth Lakes, CA 1998 Honorable Mention, Mustard Festival, Napa Valley, CA 1984 Award of Merit, San Francisco Street Artists Program, San Francisco, CA Group Exhibitions 1997 3-Person Show: Jernigan-Wicker Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1996 3-Person Show: Art Institute, Diego Rivera Gallery, alumni-juried, San Francisco, CA Galleries 2005-6 Mowen-Solinsky Gallery, Nevada City, CA; Manzanita Gallery, Sedona, AZ 2003-4 Coda Gallery, Palm Desert; The Loft Gallery, Palm Springs; Gallerie van Friend, Scottsdale, AZ Plein-Air Competitions 2009 San Luis Obispo Plein Air (juried); Menlo Park Allied Arts (juried); Crockett, CA; Tubac, AZ 2008 San Luis Obispo Plein Air, (juried); Valona Paintout, Crockett, CA; Mare Faire, Mare Island, CA; Flyway Festival, Vallejo, CA; Lost Dutchman Park Paintout, Superstition Mountains, Phoenix, AZ 2007 Frank Bette Center Plein Air, Alameda, CA (juried); Museum Art & History, Santa Cruz, CA (juried) Plein-Air Workshops and Special Studies 2010 Directed Study: Kevin Courter and Randy Sexton through MFA program, San Francisco, CA 2009 Summer in Italy Program: Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA 2008 Brian Blood, Pebble Beach, CA; Skip Whitcomb, Tucson, AZ 2007 John Poon, Jeanette LeGrue, Marin County, CA; Jean LeGassick, Virginia City, NV 2006 Ken Auster, Carmel, CA; Randy Sexton, Marin; George Strickland and John Budicin, Scottsdale, AZ 2001-2 Pam Glover, Camille Przewodek, Van Waldron, Jove Wang, Brigitte Curt, S.F. BayArea; Alexander Zimin, Carmel, CA Art Festivals 1998-2008 From 20 to 35 weekend shows per year in California, Washington, Nevada, and Arizona, including over the last five years: La Quinta, Mill Valley, La Jolla, Los Altos, Bellevue, Carefree, Boulder City, etc. Memberships 2010 California Art Club; Arts Benicia 2006-10 Peninsula Outdoor Painters (POPs); Benicia Plein-Air Group, S.F.Bay Area; 2006-8 LPAPA Member (Laguna, CA); APAP Member (AZ); Scottsdale Plein-Air Painters (AZ). Teaching 2007-8: Plein-Air workshops, S.F. Bay Area, CA 2002-3: Art Classes: San Leandro, Redwood City adult schools, Burlingame Recreation, CA |
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Artist's Statement & Resume |
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Mark Monsarrat - Plein Air Artist |
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“The Atmospheric Landscape” |
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Email: Mark@MarkMonsarrat.com |
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Copyright 2010, Mark Monsarrat |
