We were lucky to catch up with Mark Farrell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mark, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

When I moved back to Colorado, one issue I faced was where to paint. I set my main base of operations at my parents house. I still work in the furnace room in their basement (even though I don’t live there), but at one point I tried renting part of a space from someone at the building near Logan and Colfax. They eventually had a problem with the toxicity of the paint I was using, so I moved on. I can’t really imagine renting a space on Santa Fe or in Downtown, everything has gotten so expensive.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My paintings are often based off the suburbs around me, which haven’t changed much since I grew up. I usually take that image and add what I’d want to see to it. It’s kind of a suburban wish fulfillment. I’ll add things that are gothic or slightly paranormal or that have a horror movie vibe. I tend to think the gothic or heavy metal parts of my work, alongside a more textured painterly approach, sets me apart from others. I’ll paint parts of them up thickly or power sand the surfaces of my paintings. I don’t seek to make work that is scary per say, I just enjoy the atmosphere and the general vibe of horror movies and heavy metal. I like working big, because it gives me more room to edit and make big changes.
I’m most proud of my recent paintings because I feel like I’m finally making the kind of work I’ve always wanted to make, because I have the time to give each painting what it needs. I’m proud that I’m able to make something original that speaks to people, and that I can still appreciate after not looking at it for an extended period of time.
I got into painting in 2009. It was my sophomore year of college when I took my first painting class. Through college I got to know my teachers and started to realize that it could be a way of life, that people painted their whole lives and had all kinds of different jobs at the same time. I remember seeing a video of Agnes Martin and she talked about having all these random side jobs. I went to Brandeis as a post-bacc and then went to Boston University to get my MFA. I originally was into music, I tried a lot of other creative pursuits at first.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I never really thought of it as building a social media presence, I just followed all the people I knew from art school and college and things grew organically from there. Social media is like any other interpersonal interaction: just be yourself! Don’t be a jerk!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think painting is all about resilience. The longer I stick around the more I like what I’m making. I heard an old teacher of mine on a podcast (I Like Your Work) say something about younger painters moving on too quickly, and I couldn’t agree more. Keep learning! Keep challenging yourself! Be self aware, and be self critical (but not too self critical). A big part of my journey was the summer between my first and second year of grad school. I had a fungal mass found in my chest and had to have various surgeries (including an 8 hour surgery because the mass had made a hole in my esophagus). But I was still able to make it through and graduate!
When it comes to this topic I also think about drawing as an example. I used to hate drawing, and I always thought of painting as the main attraction. What changed is when I realized the great thing about drawing is that you never have to show it to anybody. Drawing can just live as a tool in your sketchbook that trains your eye and slowly marks your progress. Now I really enjoy drawing from life, and it’s definitely made my work better.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://markfarrellart.com/home.html
• Instagram: markandrewfarrell