‘This is completely unexpected’

Former chemist makes a splash at local art museum



AN ARTIST’S TOUCH—Above, Mark Cher beside one of his paintings along with longtime friend Judi Gill. Courtesy photo

AN ARTIST’S TOUCH—Above, Mark Cher beside one of his paintings along with longtime friend Judi Gill. Courtesy photo

As a chemist at the Rockwell Science Center—now Teledyne Technologies—in Lynn Ranch for 30 years, Mark Cher spent a lot of time plotting points on graphs but had little other experience creating images.

That changed 15 years ago when he watched his granddaughter paint a mural in his living room and decided he would like to try his hand at creating art.

Cher taught himself to use acrylic paint sitting at his kitchen table in Thousand Oaks, and then he moved on to oil. The retired scientist developed his craft with very little guidance.

Now the 90-year-old artist has over 30 paintings on display at the Conejo Valley Art Museum.

“It’s such an honor my hobby turned out to be of that quality,” he said.

Cher, a native of Argentina, came to the United States when he was 14. He lived in the Conejo Valley for 50 years, but when he moved to a senior living facility in Playa Vista three-and-a-half years ago he had to downsize, which included finding new homes for the dozens of original paintings that adorned his walls.

His family took some but didn’t have room for them all. So he contacted the art museum at Janss Marketplace to see if he could donate the paintings so they could be sold to raise funds for the museum.

“The ladies came and picked the ones they wanted,” Cher said. “I forgot all about it until I got a call a few weeks ago from the director saying they were on display. I was completely astonished to hear that. I was astounded my pictures would be shown in a museum. This is completely unexpected.”

While Cher is largely selftaught, he did take a class at Cal Lutheran University and another at the Goebel Adult Community Center.

Cher’s exhibition includes a portrait of Elizabeth Taylor, but the bulk of his works are landscape paintings, including some of local landmarks, like the Camarillo Ranch House and the Grant Brimhall Library.

Others are paintings of places Cher has traveled to, like a spot on the River Jordan in Israel where Jesus is said to have been baptized.

Most of the paintings Cher copied from images he liked online.

His collection includes a rendering of a Swiss chalet, the snowcapped Alps, a village scene in Tuscany and a Japanese pagoda.

The museum has set prices for each of the paintings, which are all for sale. Proceeds will support the art museum.

Close friends and family were on hand for the exhibition’s grand opening a few weeks ago. Among them was Susan Goldberg, who has known Cher for over 40 years.

Her husband, Ira, worked alongside Cher at Rockwell, and the two families raised their children together at Temple Etz Chaim.

Goldberg said Cher is a humble man committed to “leaving this world a better place than he found it.”

“He lives life to the fullest. He doesn’t boast about his accomplishments. He just paints because that’s what he does. He enjoys it and it shows,” she said. “He likes to paint scenery and classical scenes. They’re gorgeous.”

Goldberg said Cher’s talent and humility as a painter was characteristic of the way he was as a scientist.

“He was the same way as a chemist,” she said.

Cher said painting brings him joy.

“It’s peaceful, and when I’m painting I’m not thinking of anything else except what I’m doing,” he said.

Cher, who has four sons, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandson, has been retired for around 30 years. He still passes the time painting in his senior living community. He spends two to three days a week with a handful of neighbors in his community’s art studio. He said talent is not a prerequisite.

“My attitude is that anyone can paint. Some may have more capability than others, but everyone can do it. We all meet in the art studio. We all paint and everybody enjoys it. Some are more talented, some are less, but it’s a source of enjoyment,” he said. “Anyone can do it and will enjoy it.”

Even after donating dozens of paintings to the museum, Cher has a wealth of his own art at home. His apartment in Playa Vista is covered in his original works.

“I put a lot of holes in the walls to hang them,” he said.