Marc creates detailed “Elko” specific pieces that he shares with the community at the Elko County Art Club Gallery.

ARTIST BIO

Marc Desobeau is a painter whose passion for railroads is vividly seen in his paintings. Marc was born in 1962 and lives with his wife Glenna in Ogden, Utah. When he is not creating “Railroad Masterpieces” he is employed as a Locomotive Engineer with the Union Pacific Railroad. Marc’s firsthand experience with trains and control of the the artistic medium produce exceptional railroad portraits.

Early in his childhood Marc Desobeau’s life ambitions formed – Now those ambitions have been achieved. His love of trains first started with the train rides his grandfather, a Southern Pacific Railroad Locomotive Engineer, would give him at age four. A few years later, after spending his allowance money to buy an oil paint set, Desobeau discovered his second ambition: Painting. At the age of twelve Marc won a painting scholarship to a painting academy, which he attended for three years. He continues to study painting through self-teaching and home study. He also studies the work of other railroad illustrators past and present such as Grif Teller, Howard Fogg, Ted Rose, John Coker, and Gil Bennett.

Marc searches for the artistic view of the industrial railroad image and mixes it with the natural beauty of the land and surroundings. This challenge of mixing nature and industry drives Marc to his studio and waiting paints and brushes. A streamlined passenger train cutting through the mountains, the nation’s freight rolling along a river or a steam locomotive just getting underway are images of our lives. These scenes have been a part of our lives for over a hundred years and Desobeau loves capturing these moments in time.

Marc’s work is primarily shown at railroad enthusiast and club shows. His work is also used in railroad related trade publications, greeting cards, puzzles, quilts, and on book covers. Corporations and private individuals from around the world collect Marc’s original paintings. He has participated in small group and private shows across the country.