Beautiful old-growth redwood, honeyed maple tones, and subtly weathered pine—it’s the stunning salvaged wood that plays the starring role in his work. “The fact of the matter is that I love all wood. Really, it’s that I love trees. They make me nuts!” he says. “The most spiritual place in the world for me is walking within an old-growth forest.”
And he’s not afraid to go to great lengths to procure his perfect material. “I (recently) got the heads-up that there was a 2,500-pound beam in the subbasement of the building next door to me that was about to get taken to the landfill. I literally had 15 minutes to figure out how to cut up and remove this massive beam before the garbage truck got there to do it for me,” he says. “It was insane, but I found a few of the strongest guys in the neighborhood, cranked up my chain saw, brought a couple of flash lights, and within 10 minutes we got the beam out of there.”
Of all the varied adventures of his craft, Mark’s favorite part is working with clients. “There is nothing I love more than seeing the face of a client [when they see] their one-of-a-kind piece for the first time,” he says. “It seems like so many people are so accustomed to the mediocre that when they see something special made just for them their face lights up with delight.”
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