Why did I become an artist?
Many artists often have cause to ask themselves this question.  The answer is in the work - for me it is play!  
  .......Mark Austin Byrd

During this period Jenelle and I have several series of sculptures, the most significant of which are – the “Benavidez Collection” and the “Pless Collection” .  These were started as studies for memorials honoring Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez, and Major Stephen W. Pless, both recipients of the Medal of Honor for acts of valor during the Vietnam War.  Jenelle and I have started a series of small sculptures that will be available as limited editions that we call the "American Valor Collection".  This series is a small bust and in some cases a small full figure sculpture of living Medal of Honor recipients and others whose valor rises to the standard of the MOH. 

I am  now competing for other such projects and are pleased to announce that late last year I was invited by the Association of Graduates of the United States Air Force Academy to submit a proposal for two life size bronze sculptures of two distinguished Air Force pilots who will be memorialized as the center point of the Academy's new Mall of Heroes. 

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE - MY EVOLUTION.   Upon graduation from college in 1967 with a degree in history, chemistry, and zoology, I became a Marine officer and Naval Aviator and served one tour of duty in Vietnam.  As a helicopter gunship pilot I frequently marveled at the courage of men around me and I vowed to one day create sculptures that would honor such bravery. 

1st. Lt. Mark A. Byrd, USMC,
Vietnam, 1970

I started playing with clay extensively at age four and never really gave it up as play.  Throughout my childhood and youth I always returned to it as a major pastime,  but it was not until 1990 when I was given an opportunity to study in the studio of a great portrait sculptor, Lena Beth Frasier that I at last realized - I am a sculptor. 

Lena Beth Frazier was a master sculptor capable of capturing the essence of her subjects likeness and personality in her bronze portraits.  During my four years of full time “apprenticeship” in the Frasier studio and shop, I learned the classical methods of representational sculpture assisting her in completing all phases of her sculpture work from the conception of the piece, construction of the model, to chasing and finishing the work in our metal shop. 

In 1994 I cast my first work in bronze, a small sculpture of a walrus.  In the following two years I created many more wildlife sculptures and went on the community art festival circuit, traveling to selected art festivals nationwide.  My sculptures have been shown coast to coast at fine arts festivals and galleries and are owned by collectors across the United States, as well as in Canada, Europe and Africa.

In 1996 I temporarily suspended my sculpting and became the CEO of a small hospital, nursing home and home health corporation in my home town of Coalgate, Oklahoma. In one day I went from being an emerging artist, with few cares other then what to sculpt next, to being responsible for a multimillion dollar corporation with 150 employees - the life of my community.  I took the job with the understanding that as soon as we could find a suitable replacement for me I would return to  full time sculpture.   

I welcome public and private commissions and have assisted in the completion of monuments and commemorative sculptures installed at the Oklahoma Governor's Mansion, the Oklahoma City Zoo,  Wills Point Historical Museum, and Mary Hurley Hospital, Coalgate, OK. 

I strive to capture the essence of my subjects, whether it is a tiny lizard or a giant whale,  a valiant soldier or a freezing Choctaw woman on the “Trail of Tears.   I find beauty in all life, even on the battlefield - no especially on the battlefield - in men and women willing to lay down their lives for the life and freedom of others!   I now strive to capture that essential beauty in my art!

  .........Mark Austin Byrd