Mark Heine (1961 - 2025)

"Originality...easily recognized, but elusive to achieve. To conger something from nothing, is the act of creativity, no matter the medium. I'm thirty four years down the rabbit hole and still descending. My life spent building a mental vocabulary to first visualize, then the physical ability to realize. Finally comes the passion, embracing a cause and using such skills to champion positive social change."

Mark David Heine was raised by artists to be an artist. A childhood spent wandering his father's massive warehouse studio, absorbing the progress and process of the monumental projects underway. It was art by the ton, measured in yards, not inches. Always a diverse selection of skills in action, to watch and learn from...sculptors, designers, architects and artisans, working in plaster, resin, concrete, fibreglass, wood, stained glass, tapestry - and, of course, paint. Mark's father, Harry Heine RSMA, CSMA, FCA, NWWS (1928-2004), would eventually became one of Canada's most celebrated artists, culminating with his election to the Royal Society of Marine Artists in England. He's the only Canadian to ever have achieved this status.

As a child, Mark and his family toured and sketched the great cities of the world, immersed in galleries and architecture. First as students, then eventually as instructors. From the masters, learn the learnable...technique, colour,, composition, etc., but also developing the sensitivity to recognize the intangible conceptual aspects, which make the difference between a mere rendering and a work of art. At age 18, the 1979 Attorney General's Art Scholarship, sent him on my way.

It's now thirty four years...a thousand paintings and a million words later. Clients, including names such as Disney, Sony, Microsoft and Starbucks, have led to more than forty national and international awards, working through agents in New York, Philadelphia, Tokyo, Toronto, Seattle, Vancouver and several locations in Europe. A succession of well received solo and group shows has brought his work to New York's RJD Gallery, where he shows with some of most recognized artists in America. He's works are featured on 38 different postage stamps for various countries. He's also been featured in numerous magazines including Hi Fructose Magazine, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, International Artist Magazine, The Artist's Magazine, American Art Collector Magazine, Magazin'Art, Applied Arts Magazine, plus a number of television features. Recently, Poets and Artists Magazine included his work in their special feature "50 Memoroble Painters of 2015".

Heine has come to realize he's a story teller. Writing has long been a key component in his creative process. He's always created a written narrative to accompany each of his works, and several of his articles on painting have been published. Each of his paintings is a captured moment in a larger story. The symbiotic relationship of these two distinct disciplines has led to a unique approach to both. Bringing one of those stories to life - to larger than life - marrying fiction to painting, is the focus of his most recent works...the Siren series.

Mark, his wife and creative collaborator, Lisa Leighton and their two daughters, Sarah and Charlotte, live in beautiful Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Learn more about Mark Heine from various Publications and his list of Achievements on Mark Heine's own website.