Universal Web

What ever kind of art you come up with no matter how outrageous anyone else thinks that it may be, We would love to share and exhibit all of your beautiful creations, To submit art simply Email me pictures and any extra words of description you would like to share with the public, Name of the work, date and your full name for creditability. I will post the pictures as soon as they are submitted.



You can Email me your pictures and information at [email protected]   

Mark Philip Venema ~ Biography


http://markvenema.com

BORN IN 1964 at Scarborough, Ontario, I am the youngest of four children of my father, Wes (Wietse) and my mother, Leny, naturalized Canadians born in Holland.

PRESENTLY I LIVE IN MONTREAL with Rita, my wife, and my daughters Avigail Joy, Zoe Iris and Beatrice Ruth, where I have recently finished a Masters of Fine Arts degree (MFA) in Studio Arts at Concordia University. Before that, I had studied Fine Art at the University of Lisbon in Portugal and have participated in numerous collective and several individual exhibitions in Portugal, the USA and Canada.
WITH A BA IN PHILOSOPHY and an MA in Intercultural Studies which focused on Urban Anthropology, Semiotics and Aesthetics from Fuller Seminary, I have worked as a journalist in South Africa and Canada and as a teacher in California and Portugal.
AFTER SERVING in the Canadian military and while finishing college I hitchhiked across the continent, planted trees in the mountains of British Columbia, fished for perch in Quebec and now believe greatly in the enjoyment of both conversation and solitude.
TIME SPENT visiting active monasteries and retreat centers in various parts of the world, and a rich spiritual encounter with James Finley, a former monk under Thomas Merton, has deepened my desire to develop an inner life and writing poetry has become a part of my art practice.
AS AN ADVOCATE of human rights and former employee for the Ontario Human Rights Commission in Race Relations, I have attempted to develop an understanding of human need at both a physical and spiritual level.
MY FATHER DIED IN 1988 and I began to feel the permanence of things unseen; that what is seen is less real that what is not. And while suffering from the pain of it, I learned the truth of an African proverb: A boy does not become a man until his father dies.
THUS IT WAS that I spent the first years of my career dedicated to the literary arts, first as a journalist in South Africa and Canada and then as an English teacher and writer in California and Portugal. Due to the financial challenge of pursuing a career in visual art, I had been discouraged by others since childhood from doing so. However, after a brief entrepreneurial venture, setting up a business in graphic arts and multimedia design, I cast my bread upon the waters in 2002 and at 37 dedicated myself full time to the study and practice of visual art.
WORKING IN FIGURATIVE drawing and painting, printmaking and metal sculpture, along with art history and anatomy at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Lisbon, (FBAUL) I studied for three years steadily befriending students twenty years younger than me. From there, I developed a portfolio, applied to MFA programs at various schools in Canada, and was accepted at Concordia University in Montreal, completed the program and now reside here.