We are very excited to welcome American landscape artist Mark Shasha to the gallery. Mark Shasha (b. 1961) is an award-winning American artist, author and educator. His focus is light and texture in the natural world which he approaches in a traditional style with techniques of 19th and 20th century masters. His work has appeared in museums, galleries, and publications for 40 years. Mark’s paintings are found in public and private collections around the world.
Mark grew up on the Connecticut coast and studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1983 Shasha was a frequent illustrator for the Boston Phoenix, The Globe and other publications. His first children’s book, Night of the Moonjellies (Simon & Schuster, 1992) won a Marion Vannett Ridgway Honor Award and was welcomed by Smithsonian Magazine as a classic. It continues to appear on bestseller lists.
His work led to invitations to hundreds of schools and libraries where he delighted children with his stories, songs and drawings. In recognition of his “outstanding contribution to the education of young people” Mark was the recipient of the Shining Star Award by The Children’s Museum of Southeastern Connecticut.
He is a frequent award winner in notable art events across the country including Forgotten Coast en Plein Air, Plein Air Easton, Laguna Plein Air Invitational and En Plein Air Texas. Shasha is a Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Artists, Laguna Plein Air Painters Association and an elected member of The Salmagundi Club, The Guild of Boston Artists, The Copley Society, Rockport Art Association & Museum, North Shore Arts Association and other venerable art institutions.
Mark’s recent awards include the 2021 Museum Purchase Award given by The San Angelo Museum of Art, Easton Artist’s Choice Award, Oil Painters of America Award of Excellence and The Alden Bryan Memorial Award for Excellence in Landscape Painting (twice in one year).
Shasha often appears on stage as an actor and singer. Recent roles include Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, The Best of Broadway, The Miracle Worker, Twelve Angry Men and Willy in Willy Wonka. He also sings with the Hillyer Orchestra in Salem, Massachusetts.
“Painting is a calling for me. It is a longing for those moments when poetry happens when a sun beam caresses a snowbank, peeks into a glade or spills diamonds across the sea. I’m compelled by something deep in me to seize that energy and to express it as paint on canvas using my own calligraphy and the brevity of a few accurate brushstrokes. My reward is to have the viewer linger, to understand, to share as the canvas evokes and conveys a glimmer of that sublime natural beauty all around us.”
