About Mark Raynes Roberts

Mark Raynes Roberts is a renowned, multi-award-winning goldsmith, crystal artist and designer. Born in 1961, in Sutton Coldfield, England, he has resided in Toronto, Canada since 1982. Over the past quarter-century, Raynes has achieved world-wide acclaim for his crystal masterpieces and iconic award designs. His success may be measured by the many recipients of his work - international leaders in business, the arts and sciences. As an artist and sculptor, he remains introspective about his work, using his personal life experiences to extrapolate the essence of the human spirit in shared shades of darkness and light.

Mark Raynes Roberts began drawing at the age 6. His budding talent was officially recognized at age 11, when he won first prize in a school design competition for a theatrical production. At age 16, he was one of the youngest applicants ever accepted by the Birmingham School of Jewellery and Design, University of Central England. His tutor was master engraver and designer Professor Ronald Pennell, considered among the finest of the United Kingdom's modern designer-artists.

Upon graduation, Raynes had been presented with the coveted 1979 and 1980 British Jewellers Association Awards for first places in both drawing and design and top student categories. He went on to achieve an advanced honours & distinction diploma from the City and Guilds London Institute in 1981.

At that time, his now-former tutor, Professor Pennell, introduced Raynes to Stuart Devlin, considered then to be the world's greatest goldsmith. Devlin, an Australian, had lived and worked as a fine-metal sculptor in New York City before moving to London, England, where he opened his own gallery in the heart of the City, under the patronage of the Duke of Westminster. Commissioned by many of the world's royal families, Devlin was at the top of his game, having already designed over 36 decimal coinages around the world. Taking an interest in the young artist, Devlin encouraged Raynes to go west, to seek the opportunity and freedom of expression found in North America.

Inspired by Devlin, Raynes emigrated to Canada, arriving on April 27, 1982, ten days after the Constitution Act of Canada was signed by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Queen Elizabeth II, marking Canada's place on the map as an independent country.

Raynes's early commissions were, fittingly enough, distinctly Canadian - particularly the creation of NHL silver replica trophies of the Hart won by Wayne Gretzky, the Norris won by Rod Langway and the Calder won by Steve Larmer, for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

In 1984, Mark Raynes Roberts re-established his great-great-grandfather's company, Raynes & Co. Ltd. (first founded in 1873), and began focusing primarily on the design and creation of artworks in silver, gold and optical crystal. www.raynesandco.com During that same decade, Raynes received many major commissions for his work, from such business titans as Frank Stronach, Galen Weston, Conrad and G. Montegu Black, Kenneth R. Thomson and Edward Bronfman.

In 1990, the National Ballet of Canada commissioned Raynes & Co. to create a special sculpture in celebration of its 40th Anniversary for presentation to HRH the Duchess of Kent. In 1992, the International Monetary Fund and Canada's top five member banks commissioned the artist to create a hand-made, 210-piece sculptural collection for all the delegates. In 1994, the artist and the Anglican Bishop of Toronto, Terence Findlay, presented “Spiritual Light” to the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, at St. Paul's Church, in honour of the Archbishop's visit to Toronto. A retrospective book on Raynes's  art, The Cutting Edge, was published later that same year.

In 1997, Raynes was one of only 60 artists invited to particpate in an international glass exhibition showcased at the London Glassblowing Gallery, Montpelier Gallery, Stratford upon Avon, and at Castle Howard in Yorkshire, England, and was the sole Canadian glass artist featured in the accompanying book "Engraved Glass" by Tom & Marilyn Goodearl.

Raynes work was exhibited for the first time in New York City in 1998. Two one-man exhibitions were unveiled at the venerable British crown jewellers, Asprey & Garrard, located in the Trump Tower on Fifth Ave. Christopher Buckley, the political pundit and author, and editor of Forbes FYI Magazine, attended both exhibitions. He commented later in his feature article on the artist's work  that it was “simply the real thing.”

In 2000, Raynes attended the Raul Julia Ending Hunger Fund gala at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Los Angeles, to present the Raul Julia Ending Hunger Fund Award to actor Jeff Bridges.

In 2001, the artist was honoured to meet Dr. Nelson Mandela, on the occasion of Dr. Mandela's being invested with an  honourary Canadian citizenship, only the second in existence, by then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Dr. Mandela was presented with Roberts's specially commissioned artwork, a unique crystalline “Book of Wisdom.”

Raynes was commissioned in 2001, and again in 2002, by Tennis Canada to create both the WTA and ATP Roger's Cup tennis trophies for both the men's and women's Canadian Tennis Championships. Later in 2002, the artist presented boxing legend and humanitarian Muhammad Ali with the sculpture “Dance Like a Butterfly” as part of a special fund- raising event for the Parkinson's Disease Research Program, University of Toronto.

In 2003, John Beddington, tournament director of the Honda Challenge, invited Raynes to attend the Masters Tennis Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall, London, and to present its champion, John McEnroe, with a new trophy of Raynes's own  design.

Later that same year, Tennis Canada named Raynes “artist in residence” of the newly built Rexall Tennis Centre in Toronto. Mrs. Elizabeth Samuel commisioned the artist to create the "Renaissance Man" sculpture, which was presented to Mr. William Thorsell, CEO, of the Royal Ontario Museum, in recognition of his revitalization of the museum with the new "Daniel Libeskind designed Crystal." The artist was also honoured in his country of birth when HRH Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, unveiled Raynes's crystal sculpture “Global Vision” at the 02 Telefonica world headquarters located in Leeds, England.

Other prestigious awards designed by the artist during this period include the Ramon Hnatyshyn Governor General Award for Volunteerism in the Performing Arts, the Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur Of The Year Award, Canada's Walk of Fame Award, the Canadian Gemini Best TV Program Award, the Canadian General Council Award, Canada's Top 40 Under 40 Awards, the Canadian Centre for Diversity (CCCJ) Human Relations Award, and the International Diversity Award, which was presented to singer-activist Harry Belafonte in 2007.

In 2003, Raynes donated the Human Spirit Collection - a major, nine-piece grouping of artworks conveying life values for children at risk - to the DAREarts Children's Foundation. As a Champion Mentor for this charity, the artist visited a variety of schools, working to stimulate student creativity with this unique arts education program. In 2004, Raynes created the Molson Indy "Champion Flame" trophies attending both the Toronto (Champion, Sebastian Bourdais)  and Vancouver (Champion, Paul Tracey) race events. The Toronto race had added excitement when legendary film star Paul Newman accepted the new trophy on behalf of his winning team Newman Haas  Racing.

In 2005, Toronto's Royal Winter Fair opened its Human Spirit Garden to showcase this collection to over 30,000 visiting students from the Greater Toronto Area. Launched simultaneously at that same venue was 14-year-old  Caileigh Minshall's newly published book Blue - Voyage to the Sky, which had been inspired by the Human Spirit Collection.

In 2008, Hamilton's McMaster University, Faculty of Health Sciences, officially opened its Jan & Mien Heersink Reading Pavilion in the recently renovated Health Sciences Library, with a special donation from Dr. Bill and Wynn Bensen. The pavilion's centrepiece was specially commissioned and crafted by Raynes: a stupendous, 53-foot glass “tapestry” consisting of 12 huge, hand-engraved panels depicting the interwoven life tapestry of Canada's multicultural peoples. The Canadian government honoured the artist by designating “A View to Our Heritage” as a Canadian cultural property.

In 2009, CBC Television commissioned the artist to create the Battle of the Blades trophy for a new TV series by the same name, showcasing Canada's premier NHL hockey stars and Olympic figure-skaters.

As a long-time advocate of diversity education for children, Raynes has also been an active board member (2002 -2006) for the Canadian Centre for Diversity - formerly the Canadian Council for Christians and Jews. In 2005, he founded the CCD's Discovering Diversity Award, presented each year to the Canadian student who best promotes and advocates interfaith programs and activities within their school environment. In November 2009, Matthew Teitelbaum, CEO, Art Gallery of Ontario recieved the CCFD Human Relations Award.

At present, too, Raynes is working as the founder and creative director of Project Humanity - FROM THE DARK TO THE LIGHT (www.fromthedarktothelight.com) - a massive multi-media art installation and travelling exhibition, scheduled for completion in 2013.