Award-winning artist Mark Ivan Cole has spent most of his life in or near the mountains. After growing up in the Andes, he lived in Washington and Oregon for nearly twenty years. He and his wife, Ping Hsu, spend as much time as possible exploring the landscape anywhere Nature's beauty can be found. For almost four years, they lived in California's Central Valley where they enjoyed close proximity to Yosemite, the Coastal Range and Sequoia/Kings Canyon. They also ventured further afield to Arizona, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. Currently, they live in Beitou, Taiwan. Everywhere they go, the landscape inspires the art!

 

Mark was working primarily in colored pencil and alkyd paint until Ping gave him a set of NuPastels. Since then, he has created a significant body of work in soft pastel celebrating rocks, trees, water and sky. He has also experimented with oil pastel as an easy-to-carry alternative.

Mark's favorite pastels are made by Sennelier and Mount Vision, but he will use any brand with rich, smooth color, including Windsor-Newton, Rembrandt, Derwent and Berol NuPastels. Most of the pieces in this online gallery were painted on various colors of Canson or Fabriano paper, or on Fabriano or Arches hot pressed watercolor paper.

 

A longtime musician, Mark also records, produces and performs his own compositions, with several releases to his credit. He plays both acoustic and electric guitars, and the Chapman Stick Touchboard. He also plays or programs keyboards and programs drums and other MIDI samplers.

 

Mark also writes fiction, non-fiction, drama and prose. His poetry is published and has a place alongside other Central Valley Poets in the McHenry Museum in Modesto, California.

 

* Mistlin Gallery Spring Show 2011 - Modesto, CA

 

* Pastel Society of the West Coast - Pastels USA 2011, Haggen Museum, Stockton, CA

 

* Pastel Society of the West Coast - Pastels USA 2010 - Art Museum of Los Gatos, Los Gatos, CA

 

* Mistlin Gallery Spring Show 2010 - Modesto, CA
     Awards:
                       First Place - Pastel Category
                  Second Place - Pastel Category

                                                      * denotes juried show