Early Days
A Western Outdoorsman, Mark James of Wyoming, has spent the best part of his life living and working in the high country of the Rocky Mountains. An Elk Hunting Guide in his earlier days, his passion for the wilderness and all it has to teach him is now expertly expressed in his art. A Naturalist, Mark continues to spend much of each fall alone in the wilderness of Wyoming fine tuning his senses to the sights, scents, and sounds of the mountains, sharing the experience with the creatures that live there, while renewing his inspiration to create outdoor themes that tell the story of the heritage of the American West.
Education
Mark attended Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design from 1985 to 1986.
Earliest Works
Mark was hired by a commercial sign company in Denver, Colorado Woodsmiths, sandblasting and hand carving three dimensional wood signs. He soon was hired by Third Floor North Company of California where he began sandblasting three dimensional images in plate glass. Here, he created a number of works exceptional in scope, creativity, and execution. Missing the outdoors, Mark James decided to return to Pagosa Springs, becoming a very successful Elk Hunting Guide of the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, yet continued to produce works of glass art on his own.
Mark James is Discovered
It was while Mark was living in Pagosa Springs that the great Sculptor, Ken Payne, discovered the talent, some expressed and some yet hidden and untapped, of Mark James. Ken Payne introduced Mark to his son, an equally great Sculptor, Victor Payne. A long friendship lasting to this day began. Vic Payne carried Mark's glass art in his gallery and hired Mark as an Outfitter and Elk Hunting Guide. Vic was additionally truly instrumental in placing Mark's glass art in Fine Art Galleries in Colorado.
From Glass to Bronze
While Mark continued to work as an Outfitter, Vic Payne hired Mark to assist him on various projects. Vic, continually grooming and encouraging Mark to move forward, hired him as Studio Manager for Quality Control purposes. Vic would explain, "If you can do that glass work, you can sculpt anything you want." Finally, the inspiration to try his own hand in clay came when Mark stood in awe of the monumental works of Vic Payne, particularly the pieces commissioned by Cabela's.
Several Years Later
Now a bronze Sculptor Artist in his own right, Mark James Art has been seen on display in Vail Fine Arts Galleries in Santa Fe, Breckenridge and Beaver Creek; in Victor Issa's Living Bronze Gallery in Estes Park; in Mountain Trails Galleries in Sedona, Cody and Jackson Hole; in Southwest Gallery in Dallas; and finally in The Madden Museum of Art in Greenwood Village, Colorado.
Excellence in Form and Permanence in Mind
Driven to create works that reach deep to touch one's heart, soul, and mind, Mark James sculpts strong, passionate, expressive images yearning to tell a story. These powerful images, captured in clay and cast in bronze, penetrate, captivate and linger in the mind. Mark James creates sculptures of excellence in form and permanence in mind.
Hear the Stories of the Southwest
From the plight of the American Indians told through Chief Seattle, to the determination of the White Man's Westward Expansion; from the cry of the Elk to the echoes of the wild; from the thundering of rams' horns to the hushed and reverent memory of the buffalo; from the oneness in spirit of Indian with wolf to the reckoning of spirit of man to lost innocence.
Mark James' Contemporary Sculptors of Inspiration
John Coleman; Marty Echinger; Mike Hamby; John Sherrill Houser; Victor Issa; Victor Payne; Ken Rowe; Sandy Scott; Kent Ullberg
Special Thanks To:
John Holtman of BDC Services; John Madden and Abbi Levine of The Madden Museum of Art; Vic Payne of Mountain Trails Galleries; Karen Richardson of Sculpture Depot; Mel Schockner, Photographer; Jim Tylich of Vail Fine Arts Corporation; Ben Weeks of Aardex LLC and Nancy Weeks; Ben Weeks, Sr. and Jeanne Lee; all Mark James Art loyal Collectors
