Fine Art

Works For Sale

Visit my storefront at Imagekind for available paper prints and paint-on-canvas image options.

Here are examples of the images.  Most are available at Imagekind and, if they are, will be linked.

Today I work entirely using acrylic on spunbonded olefin.  The finished image is scanned at high resolution, cropped, and made available at Imagekind.

AM4 by Mark Rushton

AM4 by Mark Rushton

Artist Statement

I’ve been painting since 1989.  Starting in 1993 I have been almost exclusively using acrylic paint applied to spunbonded olefin.  It’s a lot of layering and removing while the paint is wet, resulting in images that vaguely look like abstract landscapes.  When the painting is done, the image is scanned and cropped on computer.  No color correcting is ever done.  For years I had a store at CafePress, and have been a storekeeper there since 1999, but after they bought Imagekind in 2008 I switched.

The way I work and present is very unusual.  I am not interested in offering original images or larger pieces through a traditional gallery setting.  That would mean I’d have to paint on canvas or natural papers, most likely with oils, and I’m just not going to do that.  I cannot stand working with oil paints.  That’s fine for other artists, but it’s not for me.  I do work on canvas every now and then.  I prefer taking a small image I’ve made on spunbonded olefin, scanning it large, and printing it out on high-end equipment.  The technology for computers, scanners, and printers have advanced so much in recent years.  Why not take advantage of it?  That’s what I like to do.

Over the years I’ve taken art courses at the University of Iowa and spent two years at the Kansas City Art Institute as a painting major, but left before I finished my BFA.

Influences and likes are mainly Pierre Bonnard, JMW Turner, Fairfield Porter, Edouard Vuillard, Mark Rothko, Milton Avery, and Philip Hershberger.  And pretty much anything Duncan Phillips picked for his collection.


Charitable Events:

  • 2006, Pearson Cares, a charity whose proceeds go towards the United Way.  One original painting and one framed print of Haunted Gardens (detail)

  • 2006, Tanager Place.  Mirrors: Reflection Through the Eyes of a Child Artists.  Silent auction to raise money for Tanager Place.  I contributed the painting-on-mirror Autumn Mood.

  • 2005, Tanager Place.  Contributed the original paintings Fire Earth Blue Sky and Red And Black Fire Swirl.
  • 2005, Pearson Cares, a charity whose proceeds go towards the United Way.  One painting.
  • 2005, Tanager Place – silent auction at the Cedar Rapids Kernels 9th Annual Hot Stove Banquet.  Donated the painting Comfy.
  • 2004, Alternative Services/Child Advocacy held an auction in which two of my paintings were available.  They included Wapsi River View and Blue Green Drift.
  • 2004, Pearson Cares, a charity whose proceeds go towards the United Way.  Painting auctioned off included Backyard In Autumn and Hot Peppers.

Shows & Events:

  • 2005, 2X2XU, New Bohemia, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1 painting (Skies of the Grassy Grass).
  • 2004-2005, “Black & White Ball”, Monster Design Studio, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 3 paintings
  • 2004, Cedar Rapids Art Tour, Peppertree Gallery, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1 painting (Zoe at the Apple Orchard)

  • 2004, 2X2XU, New Bohemia, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1 painting (The Forest Of The Long Skies)
  • 2004, Water Tower Art Show, Water Tower Place, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (part of the Freedom Festival), 7 paintings
  • 1998-2000, The Ark Conference Center, Toddville, Iowa, 20 paintings
  • 1994, Westwood City Hall, Westwood, Kansas, 15 paintings

I’m very happy to give away my paintings for auctions/silent auctions that raise money for good causes.  Please feel free to contact me via email if you happen upon this web page and are from the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area and would like a piece donated for charity.