Mark Stefanowicz`, Cedar Park, TX
Member Since January 2007
Artist Statement Mark Stefanowicz was born in Chelsea MA. to Michael and Linda Stefanowicz. At a very young age, they would watch him draw over and over again in their living room as they would talk on the phone, prepare dinner, and pay the bills. Chelsea was one of those places where if you kept your nose out of trouble, you would be fine. However there were those rare occasions when trouble came knocking. Fortunately for Mark, his parents were a big influence on him.
When Mark was at the age of six, his mother took him to the YMCA. Upstairs in the function room was the Tringarli Studio Of Art, taught by a man named Mr. Vincent Tringarli. Mark recalls his first day of class, Mr. Tringarli (or as the student's called him Mr. T) stood before him, a tall man with white hair and a beard like Santa Claus. His features resembled Perry Mason. In a very deep but kind voice he asked Mark what he liked to draw. Mark was a quiet child who kept to himself and had quite a few friends but still enjoyed being alone. Mark answered 'Ninjas!'. Mr.T responded 'well today you can draw ninjas and then the next class we willbegin drawing other things'. Mr.T taught him techniques used by the Old Masters, landscapes, portraits, etc...
Mark's education at the studio continued for almost 17 years. He learned many things about watercolor, pastels, oils, and sculpture. Mr. Tringarli had a very big impact on Mark. He guided Mark not only through lesssons of art, but also lessons of life.
When his education ended at the Tringarli school, Mark attended college for five years where he met his wife Kimberly. Working odd freelance illustration jobs here and there, he left school to begin a career.
Mark's first job was at Vivendi's Funnybone Interactive as a background artist. There he learned how to paint backgrounds on the computer. The company made children's CD-Rom games for Knowledge Adventure, Fisher-Price, WB and many others. There, he made a life long friend and art comrade, Philip Straub.
From there he went to a company called The Yacobian group. Mark was a Senior designer and Video Effects artist. The Yacobian Group was a multimedia Communications Solutions company with clients such as Ann Taylor, Bvlgari, Chanel and Gucci.
Mark worked at Electronic Arts Tiburon for seven years. He started his career at EA as a lead artist and had the oppurtunity to become an Art Production Manager for Central Art on titles like NCAA Football, Madden, Coach, Tour, and NASCAR.
Currently Mark is the Studio Art Director for Disney Interactive's Junction Point. He resides in Cedar Park Texas where he and his wife Kim and his son Trystan are living a happy and healthy life.
As far as Mark's traditional work you can find him leaning towards Historical themes and fantasy based historical characters such as King Arthur and Beowulf. He also feels inclined to paint Western themed images. In the past ten years Mark's concentration has been oil paintings. Recently he began using mediums and techniques he enjoyed in the past, like Pen-and-Ink and Watercolors. Mark is always trying to paint the perfect painting. Mark believes in creating paintings that become timeless in the eyes of society and the public. Mark would like to achieve a body of work that will represent an accurate view of history and old English literature.
Mark, like other artists, is trying to get something out of life and leave a legacy behind. As you explore his website, perhaps you can catch a glimpse of that
http://www.markstef.com
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