Mark Holmes
Mark Holmes has been immersed in art for as long as he has been able to wield a writing instrument. Never far from a sketchbook, and from a young age, his early years were dedicated to drawing whatever was in front of him, deciphering elements of composition, light and shadow, and perspective.
Tutoring under an Italian master in the 1980’s in paint-layering techniques, Mark went on to work as an Art Director for theatrical companies producing scenery for Broadway productions and the Motion Picture industry. Later he would parlay that experience into building an award-winning and premier Decorative and Fine Arts Studio in Southern California with his very talented artist wife and partner, Lisa Albert. Working for 30+ years with the top Interior Design firms in the country and in the homes of Albert & Holmes’ prominent clients, the entity stills exists today providing a continuing outlet for the sale of Mark’s fine art.
As well as an accomplished studio painter, Mark travels the western United States painting en plein air, setting up easels from the Sierras, to the Tetons, Colorado, New Mexico, and places in between.
Inspired by artists such as Maurice Braun, Thomas Moran, Joaquin Sorolla, George Inniss, and Edgar Payne, Mark brings a passion for composition, color, and brushwork in producing evocative and beautifully ethereal paintings.
Mark currently resides in La Jolla, California and is a member of a California Art Club, American Impressionist Society, San Diego Art Institute, Laguna Plein Air Painters, and Oil Painters of America.
My Work
My work is representational in nature, knowing that nature really never allows us to fully rest, to hold that magical scene still – that moment in time when the sun, for just a moment, is bouncing off that particular ridge, the green sky is reflecting on the water, or those leaves having turned a brilliant purple in the shadows, suddenly turn dark and opaque as the next moment emerges.
Every day the sun will hit at a different angle, new clouds will emerge in the sky, and as we crest the next hill hoping for a better angle, that moment, surprisingly, has already disappeared, gone forever. Our job as artists are to capture and document, one of those fleeting moments, and hold that scene to remind the viewer of the magic in nature. Art is only as good as the emotion it evokes, and if an artist can be a conduit for that, to share those moments, with a paint brush and pigment, is to me, the essence of art, and the gift we give as artists.
“The true beauty of the work (of art) consists in the beauty of the sentiment or emotion which it inspires.”
George Inness, 1878
A Selection of Collectors & Media
Mr. and Mrs. Tom and Nicole Dean • Mr. and Mrs. Glen and Karen Doshay • Mr.and Mrs. Richard and Barbara Rosebrock • Mr. and Mrs. Dick and Barbara Enberg • Mr.and Mrs. Jim and Carol Carlisle • Mr. and Mrs. Don and Ione Spear • Mr. and Mrs. Owen and Marylin O’Brien • Mr. and Mrs. Dave and Angela Rhodes • Mr. and Mrs. Andrew and Catherine Clark • Ms. Bev Pamensky • Mr. and Mrs. Derek and Shelley Aberle • Mr. Paul Schatz • Mrs. Liz Seltzer • Mrs. Pam Worman • Ms. Millie Creager • Ms. Claire Reese • Mr. Brian Mariotti • Mr. and Mrs. Rex and Karen Butler • Ms. Cynthia Hunt
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