Mark E. Flowers earned his BFA in Studio Arts from The University of South Carolina in 1977 and his MFA in Painting from Western Michigan University in1979. Following his academic career, he has exhibited his work throughout the United States and in Europe. Mark’s work can be found in 26 public and over 300 private collections. Throughout his career, he has won numerous awards for his art in both regional and national competitions. Most recently he was awarded a residency at Golden Artists Colors Foundation in New Berlin, NY. His art teaching career parallels his art making. He has taught art at the secondary and college levels for more than 41 years. While he has been a teacher of art, he has also chaired two fine arts departments and one painting department. In pursuing dual careers, he has served as a town councilman, volunteer firefighter, Little League baseball coach and president of a community recreational board. Mark is a career artist who lives his life creating art, teaching what he knows, and serving his community well. He and his artist/wife, Kristy Higby live in a hand-made log cabin just north of Asheville, NC in the community of Alexander. They also have a large studio on the property named Mountain Tea Studios.Artist Statment I have always made use of painting to understand my relationship with the world. My works are stories – small insights and reflections of my experiences. In seeking meaning in the world, I am sharing my story in hopes of making common connections with others.My work has many layers; formally, it is about shape, objective, and non-objective imagery existing in the same field. The interaction of image, shape, and surface appeals to me. Conceptually, they are telling small stories of insight. I see my work as visual poetry making sense of the world around me. “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls”-Pablo Picasso