Mark Lightfoot

Mark Lightfoot was raised in Michigan where he began drawing and painting at an early age.  He attended the University of Michigan, graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Design.  He moved to the west coast that year to attend the University of Washington in Seattle, completing his Master of Fine Arts Degree.  His thesis work was figure painting, with an emphasis in oils.

Since completing his graduate studies, Mark has exhibited his work extensively in Michigan, Washington, British Columbia and California.  He won Fourth Place in the Mixed Media category at the California Works exhibition in Sacramento.  His paintings, drawings, sculpture and handmade paper pieces are in private collections and public buildings throughout the west.

For ten years, Mark managed several arts organizations in British Columbia and California, including Sun Gallery in Hayward.  Currently, he is developing his art career in his studio in Oakland, California.

Mark also operates his own business producing custom fine art for a variety of private and business clients.  Real estate developers, facility planners and interior designers have appreciated his flexibility, experience and professionalism.  For his private clients, Mark provides custom fine art in a variety of media.

"My work is about my lifelong passion for and connection to nature. To convey the sense of mystery I find hidden there, I use it’s colors, shapes, textures, and shadows as elements in my paintings.

Although seemingly chaotic, nature has its own structure.  My response to nature’s movement and energy as well as its structure is what connects and grounds me.

In the process of creating these artworks I recapture my original response to all that my world has to offer visually as well as emotionally.  It is this wonder and beauty I want the viewer to see."