Mark was born in 1954 in Oakland, California, and he grew up in the San Francisco area. He obtained a master's degree in history. When he was twenty, a friend offered him a ticket to Paris. He hopped on a plane and lived in France for two years. Back in San Francisco, he entered the School of Fine Arts in Santa Clara, California. At first, Mark thought he was going to be an illustrator, but then he realised that he wanted to paint. After this training, the young artist did not yet speak French, but went to the Dordogne, in the Southern part of France. There he lived in a small attic which he transformed into a studio. He soon became involved in an artistic project. His task was to copy the frescoes in the Lascaux caves. His drawings were then reproduced on reconstructions of the prehistoric walls that were open to the public. The American artist then moved to Arles, then to a studio in the Nîmes region. He now moves back and forth between his two studios, one in Montmartre and the other in Manosque.   During his creative years, Mark Alsterlind has worked as a painter and sculptor. He has also taken part in a variety of projects, including chocolate painting, architecture, theatre and film. He works with Francis Hallé, who raises his awareness of ecological issues, and with Vincent Lajarige, with whom he shares his interest in nature and trees in particular.