Artist

California weaver Joseph Marks is a native of Los Angeles County but spent many of his formative years in the Pacific Northwest. His early interests in humor, music, literature and photography have transferred to weaving colorful tales, rugs and fabrics since overcoming a head injury at age 12. He'd be quick to tell you, "If you try to tangle with a farm tractor, the tractor'll probably win!"

After a year of intensive rehabilitation, he continued his schooling including an incredible year at Pacific Oaks Mini-High School in Pasadena. Joe later graduated from Coeur d' Alene High School to a standing ovation and then traveled by Eurorail through western Europe. He lived in San Francisco, Idaho, Seattle and Long Beach, CA, before settling Antelope Valley, the high desert above Los Angeles.

Joe's keen awareness of people coupled with an expanded sense of family connection enables him to remember names and places from the shortest contact. This, combined with an inordinate sense of space and time, compensate for his total blindness. His great wit and vivid imagination are like fine threads woven into every piece of his being. Weaving with firm hand he pulls each weft through, back and forth, till each work is finished. Tirelessly he winds his yarns.