Bill Franz

I visited Mark at his home in Dayton’s South Park neighborhood.  There was no answer when I knocked on his front door so I went around behind.  I walked towards a small frame building at the back of the lot that I thought that might be Mark’s studio.

People tell me that should be my studio” said a voice behind me.  “It’s an old carriage house, built in 1895.  But the light is better inside the house.  I didn’t hear you knock, but since you’re out back you can see my other artistic pursuit – this flower garden.  When I bought this house in 2001 this backyard was just grass.  I’ve planted all of this.”

We went into the house and into a small room off the dining room, with an easel on one side and a walls filled with art.  “Much of this art will be in a show at Sinclair Community College, Building 13 (corner of 5th and Perry) in the 4th floor gallery.  There’s free parking in lot K behind the building.  The show runs from August 12 to September 13 and the gallery is open 8-6 Monday through Friday and 9-12 Saturday.”

Mark’s recent paintings, the ones that will be in his show, are different from the ones I’ve seen several years ago.  I asked him about that.  “I had a desire to include more abstract images along with realistic components, much like this de Kooning image I have framed on my shelf.  This piece is a good example, with the primarily realistic images of the two men and the primarily abstract elements in the lower right.

“The colors of this series are also a change for me.  I used to work in more earth tones but in this series I’m using a lot of cooler, more synthetic tones, more blue and especially magentas.  And I use a lot of blacks to try to anchor things so the painting doesn’t get too busy.   As I work on these pieces it’s less about tightening up my portrayal of something and more about the colors – do I need more blue, not does that eye look right.”

I asked Mark is he’d always been an artist I’ve always been an artist.  “It was sort of a given since infancy.  My parents met in college.  My mother was a painter and my Dad was a metalsmith.  My grandmother was an art teacher and her father was an architect.  Both my sisters went into art as well.  I got my MFA in Miami, which brought me to Ohio from my home in Wisconsin.  Then I landed at Sinclair Community College where I’m a Professor in the Fine Arts Department.”

“I rework my paintings a lot.  In one piece a woman was shopping at a corn stand carrying a bag.  Now it’s a man shopping at the stand and carrying a baby.  This piece I’m painting now probably has about 5 more hours of work before it’s done.  I’ve already changed the position of the lady’s hand.  I think I’ll darken the right side, to give the illusion of looking through a screen door.  I’ll also pull the shadows a bit.  And I need to decide if the man’s pants need a pocket.  Now it sort of looks like he’s wearing tights.”

“I’ve created a lot of work for this show at Sinclair, and I’m looking forward to seeing it all up.  You’ve seen a lot of it, Bill as you walk around the house.  But some of it’s hanging beside older pieces and some is stacked two or three deep.  It’ll be fun seeing it as a body of work all hanging together.”