Paintings by Mark Hooten

About the Artist

We've known Mark for years as one of the most knowledgeable and competent botanist/horticulturist/propagator people you will ever run across. He has been growing and studying rare plants since he was a little kid. There have been professors-emeriti of major universities, who have used him as an example to their graduate students, of being a completely self taught and motivated botanist, who has never had a single hour of formal teaching yet knows far more than any of the students... But did we know that Mark has minored in fine arts/art history in school? Here is his Art story in his own words:

...I caught the art bug as a tiny child. Given butcher paper and crayons, I could be engrossed for hours on a long rainy afternoon. I even won first place for a second grade crayon drawing of a tree; this pitted against the entire grammar school of over a thousand works ranging from kindergarten thru 6 th grade.

Later, discovering multiple media, my interests grew to include pen & ink weaving, batik, and painting. Once in high school, the awards kept coming culminating in the National Scholastic Achievement award for a giant batik of the entire Codex Nuttal depicting complicated Mayan hieroglyphs.

I was influenced by an educational background in art history, developing a great appreciation for the classic works, with the modern and abstract genres adding an especially profound influence to my style. While my all-time favorite is Paul Klee, I admire the works of Braque, Miro, Stella, Mondrian, Duchamp, Gottlieb, & Kline. There are more I consider great benefactors, but to include them all, the list would be over the edge.