Mark Stewart is that peculiar neighbor down the street who for the past 38 years has retreated almost every day to a high eyrie at the back of his property in Houston to make watercolor paintings. The shaded studio is an “organized mess” with paintings in various stages of completion strewn about. He putters through the day with a cup of coffee in one hand and a pencil or brush in the other, scratching out ideas that have lurked silently in the back of his thoughts for years. Despite such humble birthings, his paintings have been featured in American Artist, Art Talk Magazine, US Art, Informart Magazine and several times in Southwest Art, once on the cover. New York Graphic Society and Bruce McGaw Graphics sold a number of his images in print form, and he’s been featured in a watercolor instruction book. A native Texan, Mark graduated from Texas A&M with a master’s degree in architecture.
Today, Mark says of his work, “I’ve never felt looser and freer with paint, and my subjects have become simpler. Artists sometimes think they must have a great subject to make good art, but getting to the heart of any subject, regardless how humble, can produce really good work. In finding that core, we find ourselves. Making an expression from that source produces an intangible quality, an appeal or authenticity that draws others in and hopefully edifies.”
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