Light.

In glorious abundance or in complete absence, it’s the essence of art.

Award-winning artist Mark Mantell has literally seen the light for well over 30 years. From his limited-edition print “Reflections,” where a lurking school of redfish subtly transforms from random shadows to stealthy predators, to every original watercolor that emanates from an untouched canvas, Mantell possesses an incredible talent for rendering outdoor images into striking creations uniquely his own.

A highly popular and renowned contemporary artist who works from a studio inside Houston’s prestigious Lyric Centre via the pseudonym “Marcus Mann,” Mantell paints sporting images not because he has to, but because he loves to.

Art follows life, and Mantell is an avid outdoorsman whose studio ranges from one end of the horizon to the other.

Working with longtime close friend and veteran outdoor writer and photographer Larry Bozka, Mantell’s paintings shed incomparable light on real-life experiences in the infinite and boundless arena that is The Great Outdoors.

It’s Mantell’s steadfast belief that one cannot be a sporting artist without also being a sportsman. The embodiment of venturing outdoors, the inimitable experience of being afield on a given day in a given environment, echoes from his every brushstroke.

He has, over the years, captured it all. From magnificent white-tailed bucks to flushing coveys of quail to solitary wade-fishing anglers probing the endless expanse of Gulf Coast bays, Mantell has been there, seen it and recorded it on canvas with a characteristic technique and personal style all his own.

Part realist and part impressionist, Mantell’s classic training is apparent in everything he produces. Educated at the University of Houston School of Fine Art, he intensely studied the works of artists ranging from Peter Paul Reubens to Picasso, and ultimately, the sporting art of legendary Texas artist John P. “Jack” Cowan.

His work transcends and includes an incredible spectrum of style and genre. Like every accomplished artist, his paintings reflect those of many others. Yet, he continues to maintain an inimitable style that is as exclusive as it is exceptional.

Over the years, he has contributed thousands of dollars worth of work to a variety of conservation associations, including the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), Ducks Unlimited (DU), the Saltwater Conservation Association of Texas (SCA), the Saltwater Anglers League of Texas (SALT) and Texas Lady Anglers.

Not a single day goes by that Mantell is not in the midst of another project, including the occasional sculpture. His work is fueled by an incessant and overwhelming desire to create. To create he must first live the experience, to taste the pungent salt air at sunrise, watch a muy grande buck bound over a fence, feel the gut-punching pressure of a bucking 7-foot trout rod and hear the shrill, lonely whistle of pintail drakes rocketing toward a carefully-set block of decoys.

He’s been there countless times. His art will take you there as well.

For more than three decades, Mark Mantell has traveled through Hemingway’s distant plain. The journey invariably culminates in imagery that is, as the great American writer so eloquently stated, “absolutely true, beautiful and believable.”

“You’re dealt certain cards in life,” Mantell says. “The way you use them … or sometimes, don’t use them … is critical.

“If you’re lucky, you’ll eventually find what you’re not looking for.”