Mark Farand was born in Calgary, Alberta, and studied illustration and design at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and the Alberta College of Art and Design (now called Alberta University of the Arts). He worked as a commercial illustrator for about a year before leaving the industry to focus his attention on fine art in 1991.

Infusing urban and rural scenes of the past with new life, Mark's oil paintings evoke memories of the terrain in which his generation grew up. In his work, he animates the beloved locales and markers of bygone days with a signature flowing line, curve, or twist: an old grocery store dances on the corner, abandoned gas pumps sweep into an embrace, and aging grain elevators bow gently with the surrounding wheat in the prairie wind.

In 2019, Mark expanded his style to include oil painting on scroll cut wood -- designing a 3-dimensional ‘canvas’ with individually scroll cut pieces of wood of varying widths. At first glance, the finished artwork looks like a traditional oil painting, but the dimensionality of the piece is revealed when viewed from varying angles and with the shifting of the day’s light. Mark’s venture into oil painting on scroll cut wood has inspired him to also explore painting landscapes and wildlife in this unique and striking method.  

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