Mark was born in Buffalo, New York and spent hours as a child enthralled in his own artistic world of drawing and painting. He was honored with awards and scholarships for his art, but was encouraged to pursue a more conventional career. He received his B.S.S. in 1961 from The Ohio State University and embarked upon a successful career in real estate and hotel development. The artistic passion that had existed just beneath the surface of his long-established business persona was finally able to present itself in a tangible form when he sold his company in 1996. He began an evolving body of work made up of alabaster, marble, limestone, and bronze.