Mark is an internationally recognized crystal artist, designer and photographer, whose works of art have been presented to royalty, heads of state, sports superstars and to many distinguished leaders in their chosen fields. In 1984, he established Raynes Art & Design Ltd, in Toronto, Canada, and is a Fellow of the prestigious Guild of Glass Engravers in London, England.
Recipients of his crystal art have included Dr. Nelson Mandela, the Prime Minister of Canada, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Muhammad Ali and Roger Federer. His works of art reside in corporate and private art collections around the world, and recent exhibitions have been held in London, England, Vimy, France, New York City, U.S.A. and was the first crystal artist invited by the prestigious Gardiner Museum in Toronto, to hold a solo exhibition. His personal interest focuses on issues related to human transcendence and the issues that challenge humanity including equality, spirituality, diversity, the environment, and the capacity to have hope in the face of adversity.
Throughout his 40-year career as a professional artist, across a divergent range of media – drawing, painting, photography and hand-engraved crystal sculpture – Mark Raynes Roberts has been inspired by the beauty of light. His fascination with how light shapes and frames our perception of the world can be seen in his dramatic photography, intricate engravings on crystal, and in his paintings. He uses light to draw our attention to what is important, to heighten emotion and capture the experience of place.
Trained originally as a goldsmith at one of Britain’s most prestigious art schools, he began his professional artistic career as a silversmith and glass engraver. Having studied the great masters of engraving, Albrecht Dürer, Benvenuto Cellini, William Blake and William Hogarth, he has been a lifelong student of anatomy, composition and painstaking detail. But it is his understanding of how to use light in his masterful engravings that has become the hallmark of his celebrated crystal and glass works.
As an experienced draughtsman who has hand painted his commissioned designs for many years, he is now applying that same understanding of light and the skill of drawing to his oil paintings. Along with the introduction of colour, he is enjoying the freedom of a more fluid medium.
Only Love Can Break Your HeartMark Raynes Roberts, oil on canvas, 48"x48", 2021$5,450
