one stroke to paint a field that was so real you could smell the Sun on it
Lanford Monroe
Though a US citizen by birth, Mark spent the first ten years of his life in South America. The family home was high in the Andes mountains surrounded by volcanoes. The breathtaking mountains views, the beautiful people, tribes and culture, hillsides and valleys rich with trees and flora, fields vibrant with farm life and open skies free of pollution provide endless subject matter for artists. The many snow capped mountains pushing into the clouds alone are a subject worth a lifetime of artwork.
Yet, it wasn’t until Mark saw the work of artist, Emilio Moncayo, that he made that essential connection of the land to the canvas.
Mount Cotopaxi by Emilio Moncayo
After moving back to the US, his art interest took a back seat for a while. Then, in high school he went after artwork in earnest by learning calligraphy, manuscript illumination and eventually painting with acrylics. In the Summer months his high school art teacher made private painting lessons available. Instead of acrylics she guided students in how to begin with oils. As Robert Frost said, “And that has made all the difference.” Painting in the open or en plein air, Sylvia Brunner showed her small band of novices the abundant possibilities of oils.
The fascination of painting with oils has always been there even while he pursued a career in commercial graphics. For three decades Mark designed, carved, gilded and installed signs for business across South Carolina and in locations across borders into Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. Some of his sign craft has reached as far as Washington state, Pennsylvania, Florida and Germany.
Over the years while building his custom carved sign business Mark sharpened his painting skills with various workshops. Since the atelier path was not open to him at the time he was able to do workshops with Daniel Green, John Howard Sanden, Thomas Nash, Nelson Shanks (at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts), classes at the Greenville County Museum of Art (home to a large collection of works by Andrew Wyeth) and others.
The others at the GCMA included a beautiful oil painting by of Mount Chimborazo. Not only did this painting raise Mark’s estimation of the possibilities of oil. The foot of this very mountain was his family’s home for several years in Ecuador. In this epiphany came a double affection for oils - the mountains and the medium.
'Mount Chimborazo'
by Louis Rémy Mignot (circa 1865)
image credit: Greenville County Museum
of Art
Then sometime later Mark got a chance to see, in person, works by painters in the Hudson River School. This included a work by Edwin Church of another Ecuadorian landmark, the volcano, Mount Cotopaxi. This work by Church made an even greater impact on Mark since his family had also lived in sight of Mt. Cotopaxi after moving from the high Andes of Chimborazo.
‘Cotopaxi’
by Frederic Edwin Church (1862)
image credit: Detroit Institute of the Arts
At some point Mark befriended a retired engineer who eventually gave Mark his own painting gear - an old tackle box full of oil tubes, painting knives, vine charcoal, sketching pencils, painting mediums, small watercolor set, his custom built studio easel and a Stanrite 100 plein air easel. With this bunch of painting tools in hand the painting impulse was set in motion again.
Having come full circle, Mark has resumed his position in front of the easel as a full time painter. Whether it be a portrait, a still life or a landscape, his delight of landscape painting remains prominent in his regular painting practice. A delight felt even in “one stroke to paint a field that was so real you could smell the Sun on it” (Lanford Monroe, oil painter quoted in Alabama Magazine). From this mindset come art windows that you can hang at home, in offices or in public places.
For a more in depth perspective on Mark’s research and experiences with painting you are invited to read his blog or Substack, Art & (linked below).
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Carl Blair Response Art Exhibit (2023)
Washington Society of Portrait Artists, charter member (1997)
Nelson Shanks Portrait Workshop - Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (c1994)
Daniel Greene Portrait Workshop - (c1993)
Portrait Institute of New York, charter member (c1992)
National Portrait Seminar with John Howard Sanden (1991)
Member: Plein Air Painters Carolina
Member: NOAPS (National Oil & Acrylic Painters' Society)
Member: PSoA (Portrait Society of America)
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Note: All artwork by Mark Olivero and blog articles written by Mark A. Olivero are copyrighted 2025 with all rights reserved by Mark A. Olivero. Permission to copy or reproduce is not assumed or granted unless in writing by Mark A. Olivero.
