Mark Mendel has been an innovator in stonework for over 20 years. He began his career in Maine apprenticing with master masons Merton Reynolds and Guy Leeman and has since traveled the country designing and building in stone and brick. A master now himself, he is a mentor, teacher, lecturer, and founder of Monterey Masonry. He encourages the use period materials and historic techniques in both 18th century restoration and in his 21st century designs.In addition to his masonry, Mark is a poet, a sculptor and Zen Buddhist.

“Before I was a mason I was an artist. I started writing poetry in high school and by 1975 I was painting my poems on barns in Maine and walls in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I built poems in neon, towed poems through the sky with airplanes and flashed poems on a billboard in Times Square. Was I a poet or visual artist? I have always felt corralled by labels and categories. Visual artist. Craftsman. Mason. Sculptor. Poet. Artisan. To me it is only my work and when it overflows one category and spills into another, so what?” …Mark Mendel