St. Pete artist Mark Noll dies at 60

St. Petersburg artist Mark Noll, known for his miniature sculptures, carvings, recycled and upcycled jewelry, was found dead in his Grand Central District home Tuesday. He was 60.

Noll was a fixture at the Saturday Morning Market; when he hadn’t been seen there for two weeks, administrators reached out to Patricia Noll, his stepmother, a resident of St. Pete.

Police conducted a welfare check, she said. “The officer that found him said ‘It looks like he just passed in his sleep, very peacefully.’” Noll said her stepson had no known health issues.

Mark Noll was born in San Diego, California – his grandparents had immigrated from Mexico – and abandoned the business world in his mid 20s to work as an artist.

Painting (1998) by Mark Noll.

Entirely self-taught, he was able to turn his talent into a career, and began selling paintings and drawings, at art shows and via the internet.

He moved to St. Petersburg in 2007.

He had learned woodworking as a child, and years later, carving became his passion.

“Many of my carvings are hyper realistic,” Noll said in 2019. “I push myself to get as much detail as possible, to take the media as far as I can. I seek to convince the viewer that what I create is real and not just a carving. ‘Reality’ is always subject to interpretation. I define my work as an attempt to master the technique and a way to express my need to create.”

One of Noll’s most popular designs was a miniature human skull – inspired, he said, by the Mexican Day of the Dead. He organized several ‘Dia de los Muertos’ exhibitions in St. Pete.

He used a microscope to carve the tiny skulls.

“I see art as an expression of creativity, sometimes driven to convey an emotion or meaning, but it is in the end just a voice that is personal to the artist,” he said. “To attempt to ascribe some pretentious metaphysical description to a work seems pompous at best to me.”

Muralist Derek Donnelly met Noll around 2010. The Saturday Morning Market, Donnelly said, was “the local epicenter of who was who,” where artists met each other, traded war stories and forged friendships.

“I used to joke with him that he was completely and utterly insane, because the talent that man had inside of him …,” Donnelly said Tuesday. “He could do anything. He was a real renaissance man. He could carve as good or better than anyone I’ve ever seen. Doing those miniscule things; he would push himself creatively.

“And he’d push his fellow creatives. He was one of the few true creatives that really helped shape this town. He was a vital part of St. Pete becoming an arts destination.”

Noll in full “Dia de los Muertos” regalia, 2018. Facebook photo.

Noll’s first “Day of the Dead” art show took place at the Florida Craft Art Gallery in 2018; he curated another one in 2021, at Atelier de Sosi.

“He was somebody that I always really, really looked up to,” said artist Danyell Bauer, who worked on the Atelier show with Noll. “He was always so kind to me, every single time I saw him.

“I remember him always being so encouraging to me. I don’t know how many times he stopped me and said ‘You’re such a badass; what you’re doing is amazing. I’m really proud of you. You’re such a hustler.’

“And that meant so much to me, coming from him. Because I saw so much in him. He was an incredible artist and a huge hustler – I mean, that guy worked 24/7.”

Artist Dominice Gilbert, whose Grand Central home is two doors down from Noll’s residence, agreed.

“He was out there every day jamming in his garage, sculpting with his music blaring,” Gilbert said. “Just passionate. Kindest person ever, always smiling, always happy. Just a beautiful person.

“He was so dedicated to his work and his craft. He was so dedicated. He just lived and breathed art.”

According to Patricia Noll, her stepson was estranged from most of his immediate family, including an adult daughter. Memorial arrangements are pending.