Mark Martin moved to Las Vegas from Detroit, Michigan in 1975, and fell in love with the mountains and desert. The paintings, drawings, and jewelry he creates reflect his love of nature; often depicting landscapes in his 2D work, and playing off natural stone patterns in his silversmithing.
Artist Statement:
Since an early age, I have been an artist. I work in many mediums. I also play bass guitar, sing and blow a mean harmonica. I had my own business for 27 years here in Las Vegas that sucked up a huge part of my life. For the last 13 years or so I have continued playing music, making jewelry for people and I managed to paint a few canvases. For the last 3 years or so I have been working in my studio more often than before. I am a desert transplant from back east. Originally from Detroit Michigan I chased my high school sweetheart out here in 1975 and fell in love with the mountains and the desert. A lot of my work features local southwestern landscapes, desert critters and or hidden faces and other things. For a change-up I recently finished several fluorescent paintings using wildfire paints including some acrylic pours and colored pencil drawings.
I have been doing lapidary work and silversmithing since 1978. With my jewelry projects, I quite often attempt to incorporate elements of the stone patterns or style into the final metal settings. The latest example is piece number 1082 where I copied the rutile patterns in the quartz stone into the surrounding silver setting. Some of my Opal Galaxy series pieces are modeled after actual galaxy photos. Since I cut and polish stones and also set them myself I am able to document the creation of the jewelry piece from start to finish. Many of my pieces come with a photo book and or photos on a memory stick. People really love receiving this extra touch along with the jewelry item they ordered.
February 27 – July 26, 2020
Monday: 10:00AM – 8:00PM
Tuesday: 10:00AM – 8:00PM
Wednesday: 10:00AM – 8:00PM
Thursday: 10:00AM – 8:00PM
Friday: 10:00AM – 6:00PM
Saturday: 10:00AM – 6:00PM
Sunday: 10:00AM – 6:00PM
Add a comment to: Mark Martin: Desert Transplant