Mark Raven
 

 

 
 

MARK RAVEN

September 27, 199

 
PJ:
Mark, are you a native of the Netherlands?  
MR:

 

Yes, I was born and raised here.

 

 
CE:
Could you give us some background on your becoming an artist?  
MR:

 

I was taught to be a journalist, I always liked to draw and write. After finishing high school I didn't know what to do. My parents told me, 'try to go to a school for journalism because it will always be easier to write as a journalist and then, if you like, draw as a hobby'. I finished school and found out that after a while the drawing was nicer and I was able to do what I wanted -- while as a journalist you are part of a big company . I prefer to just work on my own. I was not taught to be an artist, [but I have taken] a couple courses in etching.

 

 

 
CE:
Who are your influences, in your style of work?  
MR:

 

That's a little bit difficult... One of the artists whom I admire most is a German artist called Emil Nolde. He is a German Expressionist and I feel very attracted to his work. There are many other artists that respect -- Paul Klee, Kandinsky . . .

 

 
PJ:
What developments have you had as a working artist?  
MR:

 

I started making a living with my work by drawing street scenes which were much more conventional. I did that for a couple of years and then I was [no longer] pleased or satisfied. The quality of what I was doing was very good but it wasn't anything special. I've tried to develop a style [ in a manner that makes] cities like Amsterdam look special.

 

 
PJ:

You have a shop here where you sell good quality shirts, posters and postcards of your work. This is not a hobby, this is obviously your life. Is there any interest from any other countries in your work?

 

 
MR:
At this moment that is not my prime goal. The whole business matter . . . is for me of importance. Not only commercially, but also because it is part of my product as an artist. As soon as the ink is dry, my goal is that the work is appreciated and obtainable by a large number of people. The whole marketing concept is just part of the artwork.

 

 

 
CE:

Do you work primarily on pieces that will be screened onto posters, t-shirts, or do you make original art that you sell?

 

 
MR:

 

To start with I make small original etchings, but they are so small, (Mark indicates for us to follow him out of his shop. He points at a large poster on display in the window ) what you see here, for example is an enlargement of my work. The original is only 10 cm by 10 cm. It's very small. What I do next is blow it up -- blow it up as big as possible. The technique that I use is called dry-point etching. Normally, when you work with etching you work with acid . . and the acid bites the metal ink out of the plate. I don't like to use acid because it's slow and unhealthy. What I do is just scratch with a Stanley knife into the ink. [I do not sell] my small original etchings because [they] are too small and I want my work to be big. After I make the original, I blow it up. The result of that is what I sell to people.

What I sell are mostly prints and reproductions of my work. I can make more than one and this also makes it possible that everyone can afford it. I don't want to sell small original etchings to those very few people who can afford it, they'll take it to their home and hang it above the kimono so that nobody else will ever see it again. No. My work has to be appreciated by everybody.

 

 
PJ:

 

Does the city here support Arts with grants and funding?

 

 
MR:
Yes it's possible to get moneys here as an artist. When you finish schooling there are programs. It's always hard to make a living as an artist. Yes, you can always get money from the government to stay alive.

 

 

 
PJ:

 

Have you explored any of those ways?

 

 
MR:
No, I didn't. I missed that whole [route]. You know, when you go to an art school you become part of a certain stream of ideas and they influence you in how you have to deal with your work. Because I didn't go to art school, I tried to make a living as quickly as possible.

 

 

 
CE:

Do you get a good response from the local people?

 
MR:
Yes, especially now since I'm here. My work is being seen by a lot of people that walk by. Before, where I used to be, there were a lot of tourists. This is a place where all people from Amsterdam come and I get a real good response. These are impressions of Amsterdam that we, like yourself, can recognize ourselves.

 

 

 
PJ:

Do you collaborate with other artists?

 

 
MR:
I collaborate with the normal people I have to deal with, sometimes they're just doing the bookkeeping or the printing. Everybody who does his job with enthusiasm and creativity is an artist. So in that way the answer is yes.

 

 

 
PJ:

Have you shown your work in other countries?

 

 
MR:
Yes, when I started making a living as an artist I used to be in Amsterdam only during the summertime because the winter was very hard. I always went abroad to try to make a living somewhere else. I've visited a lot of other cities. I did drawings of Paris, Barcelona. I stayed in Jerusalem, Israel for a long time. I was in New York . . . I always sold my work, even if it was a piece of cloth in the street. I never really dealt with galleries, which has to do with the fact that I used to put my work under my arm and walk into the gallery and . . . feel like a salesman. The fact that the gallery owner would sit behind his desk and he would look at you, and you could see him think, 'Oh Yes, Here Comes Another One.' I always thought that it was nice to sell my work straight to the people who would like it.

 

 

 
PJ:

What are your thoughts about the Internet?

 
MR:

 

I don't have any experience of using the Internet. I use a computer nowadays to write my letters. In a short time I will have a better computer, to see in what ways I could alter the pictures, make and adapt the colours by using graphical software programs, and that will happen in the near future. I'll get on the Internet as well then. But as far as now, no.