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| Mark's formal
training as a designer began in Kyoto, Japan, where he
spent four years as an apprentice to Yasuo Kitayama, a
master who is internationally recognized as one of the
premier Japanese garden designers alive. As an
apprentice to Mr. Kitayama, Mark worked in many famous
and historically important gardens, including the
construction of new gardens at Kodaiji Zen Temple, the
construction of the Kyoto-Florence sister city garden
in Florence, Italy, and major restoration of a Momoyama
period karesansui garden at Entokuin Zen Temple in
Kyoto. Mark's training also included performing
traditional annual projects, such as installing the
rice-straw wrap for the cycads at Katsura Rikyu, and
pruning in a variety of styles, from 'palace-style'
pruning learned at the Kyoto Imperial Palace to pruning
in Zen temples, and private residences. The foundation
for this training was laid at UC Davis, where Mark
earned a degree in Cultural Anthropology and Japanese,
graduating with highest honors in 1994. Mark speaks
Japanese fluently, and has a working command of written
Japanese, and returns to Kyoto on a regular basis to
continue his study of the tradition and follow the
development of the garden in Japan. |
| When he
returned to California in 1999 Mark founded a
design-build landscaping company , and soon decided to
work under the name 'Windsmith Design'. From 1999 until
early 2008 Mark employed a small team of workers,
designing and building a handful of gardens each year.
These gardens varied in size and scope, from the
transformation of a 200 square foot condominium garden,
to full-site designs for 1 acre properties and larger,
and included all aspects of garden design and
construction. In 2008 Mark decided to place the primary
emphasis on designing gardens, and also designing and
building focal art for the garden. Throughout the range
of projects that Mark designed, he found that the most
basic goal of creating spaces that are beautiful and
satisfying, and fulfill the client's vision, remains
unchanged.
Mark's gardens have been published in Sunset
magazine, and received awards from the California
Landscape Contractor's Association. His gardens have
also been featured in the Going Native Garden Tour, and
educational programs for the Association of
Professional Landscape Designers. Mark lectures on
various aspects of Japanese Garden Design, and also on
the use of California native plants in the garden. He
has lectured at a variety of venues, including the San
Francisco Asian Art Museum, UC Berkeley Department of
Art History, Marin Art and Garden Center, Gamble Garden
in Palo Alto.
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