Biography

I knew I was an artist when I was very young because of my imagination.  I stated doodling early and was drawing portraits at age eleven. I was born September 30, 1952 in New London, Connecticut to a Navy family that live in many different places. We moved to California in 1963. It was a new world for me. I attended junior and senior high in San Diego and then joined the Air Force to keep from being drafted into the Army.  During that time, I found that my imagination could help me through many things that were a drag. 

I graduated from Southwestern Jr. College in San Diego with an A.A.  I heard about the outstanding art department at Humboldt State University and transferred there in 1975.  I graduated in 1980 with a B.A. in visual arts, specializing in printmaking, and a Single Subject Art Teaching Credential. I taught art for one year at the Horizon Arts Outreach Program and taught for one year in The Humboldt County Juvenile Hall. The next year I began woodworking at the North Pacific Joinery.

After graduating from Humboldt State University, I was informed that I could no longer use their art studios. Together with two other print makers, who had just received their M.A.’s in Art from Humboldt State, and a few other artist, the Ink People, Inc. art association was started and we purchased a $7000 lithography press.  The first few years we had to flag down cars to get people to come in and see our art.  Today there are over 500 members, with a waiting list to show art.

The dream of living simply in the mountains, while being creative and raising a family drew me to Honeydew. I settled on a piece of land overlooking the King Mountain Range on the Lost Coast of Northern California. I continued to paint at home and went into the Ink People studio to do printmaking. I built the home where my two youngest were born. During this time I had two art shows at the Ink People Gallery.  I would carry my infant in a backpack while discussing my art with people.

My art is definitely founded in nature with the abstractness of its eternal beauty and constant ability to change with its environment and circumstances.  No matter what medium I work with, my pieces are influenced by my surroundings, my life and all that is part of me. I like my work to trigger the viewer’s imagination, because it creates an inner action between the viewers; me, you, everyone. Drawings, water colors, etchings, lithography, sculpting in different mediums are my favorites, but like Dadaism, many things can be art.  It is all part of the imagination and creativity.

As for my wood working, I started working at Functional Furniture in Honeydew in 1994, making benches and tables from wood the owner had shipped form Fiji. When he left a year later I built my own wood shop on our new 61 acer property located on the second highest peak overlooking the Mattole Valley. I started making the things I had learned to make earlier.  I get bored making the same things, so I started following my creative urges and creating unique, artistic furniture. Next, I started using gem stones, colors, and other embedded objects to enhance my woodwork.

I sell my work at local fairs and through my web site and Facebook postings. I was selling my work at a furniture store in Arcata until the owner retired.  Our local store now carries my work. 

My woodworking process begins by choosing the woods, looking at their individual beauty, as well as, the contrasting grains, colors, textures (knots) and edges.  Then the combining of the woods needs thought and visual consideration.  The end design results don’t always come right away, nor are they apparent.

The design of my work depends on the grain, size, density, color and dimensions of the wood.  Once my idea is clear, I start a layout.  The visual process again determines the combinations of the wood, creating contrast and compliments; the blending a variety of colors and grains and just letting the beauty of each wood show itself.

I am very pleased to now have my work being shown at The Dovetail Collections Gallery in Healdsburg, California.

Mark Dube