Sometimes it can take decades to realize a dream.
For Smithers painter Mark Tworow, becoming a full-time artist was three decades in the making.
Tworow was born and raised in Calgary, Alta. He remembers drawing as a child and took art classes in high school where he discovered a love of painting, but after graduating, he decided to get out into the working world.
He tried a variety of jobs including a stint with the now-defunct Consumers Distributing, a retailer that stocked merchandise in a warehouse-type setting instead of displaying it in a showroom to reduce overhead and prices.
Then a friend got him a job doing seismic work for a mining outfit in the Northwest Territories, but the cold, darkness and 12 hour days didn’t really suit him.
Back in Calgary, he enrolled in the pre-agriculture program.
“I kind of realized in university that this wasn’t something I enjoyed at all in the pre-agriculture stuff and went off to art school instead the next year,” he said.
At the Alberta College of Art, he finally found something that worked for him.
“It was… very contemporary work, very experimental, avant-garde, this is the kind of art that is kind of pushed in art school,” he said. “So, it’s not, sort of, traditional-based, not a lot of academic learning, per se, but yeah, I really enjoyed it. Lots of freedom. Lots of time to paint.”
It was during college he met his wife-to-be Regina and they tied the knot as soon as he finished school.
“Literally, the day of graduation, that’s the day I skipped graduation and got married, he said.
The newly betrothed couple wanted to get out of the city, so when a job opportunity as an occupational therapist came up for Regina at the Northwest Child Development Centre (then the Bulkley Valley Child Development Centre), they made the move.
“I sort of expected I was going to maybe teach some art,” he said. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to put my art to work as a living. It took me a while, quite a while really, to kind of find my way into art again.”
In the meantime, he got a job working at Interior Stationery and Books (Now Mills Office Productivity).
Art was put on hold for a while. In fact, he recalled, it took him a good five to seven years to get back into a regular practice of making art.
While managing the book store, Tworow would paint a couple of days a week and put on an exhibition every two to three years, gradually building up the audience and clientele that would finally let him make the transition to full-time artist.
That time came three years ago.
“I always kind of had that goal in mind,” he said. “Through the years, I sort of built an audience of people purchasing my work, a lot of local people, and Smithers has been very supportive. I just could see that I think there was… a possibility of me being able to do this full time. And so you kind of jump into the water and swim and see how it goes.”
It has gone very well. He has stepped up the exhibitions he does and has a thriving business on social media, particularly Instagram.
Now Tworow does what he loves five days a week, but points out it is also a business and a job.
“It’s hard work,” he said. “Sometimes people say things… meaning ‘well, it must be really fun, you know, you’re painting.’ Well, that’s not really the right word. Actually, it can be joyful at times when it’s going well, but other times it’s just working hard.”
There is also the tension between doing what you love and maintaining your business he noted.
“It’s definitely a balancing act like to try and stay fresh and motivated about art, about making art and at the same time, in the back of your head… I’m also trying to make a living.
“I always would like to identify myself more as a contemporary artist than a commercial artist. Of course, I like to sell, but I hope I’m not just motivated by selling. You have to sort of always be asking yourself questions about what art you’re making and what are the choices about how you’re painting.”
Tworow finds inspiration for what he paints in the landscape around him.
“We certainly didn’t come (to) Smithers expecting to stay like that, but it’s a wonderful place to live if you like the outdoors,” he said.
“I paint the landscape, and that’s also my recreation. I snowshoe in the winter and cross country ski. In the summer it’s hiking and mountain biking. I love living here because of our rivers because I fish.”
At any given time, Tworow has several new paintings on the go in the studio space he rents at the Creation Station on Railway Avenue.
“I just feel like making arts really a worthwhile thing to do,” he said. “Everybody has that kind of different calling in life. I like to make art that that hopefully brings enjoyment to people’s lives, whether they buy one or just enjoy seeing them. That feels like a really worthwhile thing. Maybe more so than ever, you know?
Mostly, he paints what he wants, but he does take on commissions, usually only one at a time.
Even then, he offers clients the opportunity to turn it down when he is finished in case it’s not what they wanted.
“To make good art, that should be your goal, not just to be painting to sell,” he said. “I would treat my practice differently if that was my main goal.”
