Emissary Painting

In 1961, Mark Heine was born into a family that was always driven by the creative. His father and mother were both applied artists and designers, operating a massive warehouse studio in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The making of art on a grand scale was around every corner. Mark’s childhood was spent wandering through the studio, absorbing the progress and process of the monumental projects underway. It was art by the ton, measured in yards, not inches, and worked in all matter of media ... plaster, resin, concrete, fibreglass, wood, stained glass, tapestry – and, of course, paint. It’s what all the family did and does to this day ... art. Even the family vacations were spent sketching the architecture or immersed in the great galleries of the world. (At age six, the Mona Lisa was just another painting, but the armed guard made it special.) The family relocated to British Columbia in the early 1970s. Mark’s father, Harry Heine, RSMA, CSMA, FCA, NWWS (1928-2004) eventually became one of Canada’s most celebrated artists, culminating with his election to the Royal Society of Marine Artists in England. He is the only Canadian to ever have achieved this status. At age 10, Mark won the first of several national art competitions. He was awarded the BC Lieutenant-Governor’s Art Scholarship in 1979, at age 18. Four years later, he graduated with honours from the Applied Arts Program at Capilano University. Brush in hand, he established his own studio and rose, over the course of 30 years, to become one of North America’s most sought-after talents, working through agents in New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, Vancouver and Tokyo. Corporate commissions for the likes of Sony, Disney, Starbucks, and many others (view client list) garnered him more than 40 national and international awards (view awards) . Those included a Prix Olympia bronze medal for paintings, commissioned by Canada Post, for stamps commemorating Canada’s team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. In 2009, the Postmaster of Liechtenstein commissioned Mark to paint two original works for stamp application, commemorating the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada. The commissions kept coming, and Mark’s art is now showcased on 26 postage stamps in circulation in North America and Europe and he serves on the Advisory Panel for Canada Post. A recent commission by the Post Office of Luxembourg, will take that number to 38, over the next 4 years.