Artisan

KIMBERLY MACARTHUR GRAHAM

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARGOT GEIST

>>> Mark Levin, San Jose, New Mexico

Mark Levin seems familiar to many of his customers before they've spoken to him. It's not just because his scrumptious, curvy furniture carved of solid wood conveys his personality — which it does. It's because his Web site is full of information, well-written and fascinating, about the artist. Everything from his history to his inspirations to engaging stories of his youth can be accessed there. "The Web site is my main source of business," explains the very practical Levin, "so I make it personal to take away the fear of ordering very expensive pieces over the Internet."

In addition to the Web, Levin uses direct mail to reach clients, and he participates in high-profile shows such as SOFA Chicago and Palm Beach 3. These shows (he disdains crafts shows) have not only helped him raise his profile, but raise his income by a more direct method. At one event, he realized, based on other artists' prices, he could triple his. He did, his pieces sold out, and he's sustained that price level ever since.

Mark Levin's handcrafted wood furniture often features fruit, leaf and flower forms.

That type of informed risk-taking seems to define Levin, who in 1997 uprooted from the Chicago area and followed his then-girlfriend and now-wife to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Setting up shop there with no contacts and no clients, he recalls, "My goal was only to make what I wanted to make — and I achieved that. And my Leaf and Fruit series are now collectible."

Levin's coupling of business savvy with an instinctive artistic sense has helped him to burst onto the international market. His buyers are mostly far-flung. In the United States, about 60 percent of his business comes from the East Coast and about 30 percent from the West Coast. The remaining 10 percent is international, including a recent spike of activity from Russia. "At first, I thought, 'International: what a hassle!'" says Levin. "But it's one phone call to FedEx."

His inclusion in several museum shows confirms what is obvious to his clients: Levin is a master craftsman. He carves his unique designs ("sometimes they take years to perfect") out of solid pieces of fine wood, including Australian lacewood, birdseye maple, cherry, bubinga and American black walnut. He laboriously and lovingly shapes and smoothes and joins every piece by hand, then finishes them with furniture oil (his preference) or with polyurethane or polyacrylic (many clients' preference). His technical prowess is informed by an artist's innate sense of proportion and aesthetic appeal. As Levin's artist statement explains, "The design foundation for my work is very instinctual and is based on both natural and man-made forms that I find pleasing. These nuances of forms range from leaves, flowers, butterflies and women to automobiles, machinery and architecture."

But asked whether he approaches the wood with a preconceived notion or allows the wood itself to direct his design, he is clear. "I'm from a school where I dictate what the wood does. I never start a piece until I have construction details drawn out. The wood is too expensive not to."

Levin relishes all aspects of his career, even the obstacles and the minutiae. "I love it all, the process of creating, the business side, even the accounting," he says. Selling works of art as fast as he can craft them, dreaming up new marketing campaigns, interacting with a variety of global clients, and discovering new approaches and skills artistically and administratively — all the while, he's a happy camper.

But life itself is not so easily predicted or controlled. In April 2007, Levin was faced with a cancer diagnosis. Though he says it was "not tragic," it necessarily slowed his pace and forced him to take a close look at his life. He relates, "You ask yourself, did you make the right decisions? I broke up laughing because I realized, yes, there's nothing I'd rather be doing. It was a great affirmation."

Even so, like most cancer survivors, Levin (who's in complete remission) savors his life and his art all the more. "It clarified things for me," he says. "I had to think about why I make the work. And I take more time off. I travel more with my wife. I'm more in tune with the making of the work, and it's even better."

P.O. Box 109, San Jose, NM 87565; (505) 421-3207 or www.marklevin.com.