Mark Messersmith (1955-) was born in Kansas City, Missouri lives and works in Tallahassee, Florida where he teaches at Florida State University.
The artist extends beyond the frame of his central images surveying man’s ruin. He also includes a small frieze of vignettes at the bottom and sculptural adornments at the frame’s edge.
His work explores themes of spirit and struggle within the modern world’s natural environments.
Messersmith likes to focus on the habitats of Florida’s animals in the way they live and react to one another.
In his words, “My work is really about our relationship to all other living creatures at this precarious moment, a place midway between hope and despair.”
His works reflect plants and animals, which are still able to survive, often in small isolated natural habitats, and the effects of their inevitable forced migration, dislocation, or isolation.
His works build on stories (either real or conjectured), along with observations and concerns for the creatures that move within the shrinking environs they inhabit.
More of Mark Messersmith‘s inspirational work can be found at https://markmessersmith.com.
Humoring the Goddess 
Love Mark Messersmith! Was fortunate to see an exhibit of his at Venvi Art Gallery in Tallahassee.
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I’m sure they are the stars on the stage of their world. We just facilitate food sourcing for them. Or housing. 🙂
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I love that you noticed that. Even though we share thair world it is not really ours.
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I love how the point of view of the paintings are from the bird’s eye and humans are implied but not central. It makes me feel I’ve entered another world.
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Oh but busy is a good thing here, you can look at his paintings again and again and discover new things. And all the colours make you happy. I loved them.
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Indeed. And he says so much about each species and how they survive together in each painting. Such diversity. Thank you for sharing his work.
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I admit his paintings are very busy, but if you take an extra few minutes you can see so many stories in them.
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Reblogged this on Blue Dragon Journal and commented:
This artwork is amazing. Since living in Florida, I’ve become acquainted with many of the magnificent birds and animals the artist includes in his complex paintings… and he’s right, natural Florida is disappearing under the pressure from developers except in some areas.
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Interesting ! Lovely colour and a lot to see.
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