About Me

1961

I have always had an interest in art. My first recollection was at about the age of 3 or 4 years old. My parents got me my first watercolor set and I would sit on the dining room floor and mix colors together just to see what would happen. They both recognized my abilities at an early age and always encouraged me to do more than I thought I could. In grade school I would sometimes be drawing when I should have been listening to the teachers in class and it got me into trouble once in a while. Back then all I wanted to do was become a full time artist when I grew up. In high school I took classes in art, ceramics, jewelery design, jewelery making and then finally ended up in a commercial art class for my last two years of school.

After high school I decided to go to college, with a little help from my mom, guess I should say that is putting it mildly. After doing nothing for about a year she decided that it was time for me to go back to school and said that if she had to take me by the hand she would. The next day she drove me up to the local college and since I did not want my mother to go with me, I got out of the car and went in to get a catalog. It was the best thing she could have done for me at the time. It was then I decided what direction I wanted to go with my talent. My dad got me involved in doing some freelance technical illustrations for Chenowth Racing Products of El Cajon, CA, the company that he was working for back in the early 70's and I felt that that was what I wanted to do as a career. I graduated from Grossmont college in 1979 with an AS degree in technical and scientific illustration. My mother did not get to see me graduate from college, she died in 1977, but I know she would have been very proud of me.

My first job was working for Sogitech, then Tech graphics and for the last 30 years I have been working for SOCAL Graphics of San Diego CA. First I was a technical illustrator/graphic artist and then I was involved in the printing side of the business. Some of my work has been in magazines, and books, but most of it has been used for proposal art for the defense industry and nuclear reactor research. I even held a secret clearance at one time.

Working on the board at SoCal Graphics back in 1983. I am the guy in the front with the beard.

In 2003 I took a much needed vacation to the big island of Hawaii to visit an uncle and aunt. While there, I went to various art galleries which inspired a reawakening in me that I needed to get back to my childhood dream of becoming a full time artist. In 2004 I did a painting that sold at a Quail's Unlimited auction and felt like I was on track for reaching my goal. I had started some other paintings but let my dream fall by the wayside. In 2008 I went through a heart attack and in 2009 my dad past away from Alzheimer's disease. It has made me take a hard look at my life and what I was doing with my dream. Recently I have been to some art shows and talking to artist and seeing what they are doing with their talents has made me realize that I was wasting my gift. Now it is time to pursue my real passion as a full time artist. The encouragement, prodding and sometimes kick in the backside from family and friends along with a realization that it is what I was born to do has brought me to the point in my life that I need to be doing something with the talent that God has given me. So here I am. In a way I feel like I am that little child on the dining room floor all over again; ready to start out on a journey with his art. I hope you enjoy what you see here and that you will come back from time to time to join me on my road of self discovery and reawakening.

Mark Sanders

2011