Mark Norseth began painting at age 11, working in watercolor along the coast of Washington state, under the guidance of Charles Mulvey.
After art school and a brief stint as an illustrator in the Pacific Northwest, Norseth moved to New York City to continue his study of painting, supporting himself as a freelance illustrator with the help of painter Craig Srebnik in the mid 1980’s. This period lasted over a decade, and found the artist scouring the museums and galleries of the city, to “learn what I could from the great painters and paintings I found there.”
Further study at the National Academy of Design, New York Academy of Figurative Art, and the Art Student’s League provided a strong technical base. Norseth also considers himself fortunate to have received instruction from James Childs, Curtis Hanson, and Hilary Holmes, each a former student of R.H. Ives Gammell of Boston.
“It was in New York that I finally discovered the painters that truly knocked me out. Two exhibitions in particular, the John Singer Sargent exhibition at the Whitney and Joaquin Sorolla at the IBM gallery pushed me over the top. There have been other influences, but I’ve never done a painting, to this day, that wasn’t somehow indebted to what I saw in those two painters.”
Mark Norseth moved with his family to Oahu, Hawaii, and in 1998 to begin painting full time. He is confident and fluent in watercolor, pastel, and oil, and has won awards in regional and national exhibitions in all three mediums.
Featured in American Artist Magazine, December 2006.
Exhibitions have included the Adirondack Exhibition of American Watercolors, Academic Artists Association, The Pastel Society of America, The Hudson Valley Art Association, Hawaii Watercolor Society, and many others.
The artist is represented by Nohea Gallery in Hawaii, and his work is valued in collections throughout the world.