The Loop Newspaper - Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide

Gallery 'N' Gifts is proud to showcase Mark Pestana as their Featured Monthly Guest Artist for November. First Friday, Nov. 4 will officially open his show which will run through Nov. 29.

Mark Pestana painting

Colonel Mark Pestana, USAF (ret), is currently a consultant and contract research pilot at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, Calif., specializing in human factors engineering and remotely piloted aircraft operations. He has flown NASA Earth science missions through hurricanes, mapped fault lines, measured rain forest health, and sampled atmospheric pollution. He also serves as adjunct faculty in the aerospace safety program at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering. He is a rated command pilot, orbit analyst, and space operations engineer, and has flown over 5000 hours in over 30 aircraft types, ranging from heavy transport to supersonic aircraft. Among his flying assignments, he logged 213 combat reconnaissance sorties flying unarmed intelligence missions, and flew as a safety chase pilot for the CV-22 Osprey flight test program. As a space operations engineer he developed astronaut flight operations for the Department of Defense Space Shuttle Program and the International Space Station. As a professional artist, Mark specializes in aerospace themes, but also enjoys painting landscapes and seascapes. He is a member of the American Society of Aviation Artists, the International Association of Astronomical Artists, the Society of Illustrators Los Angeles, and the U.S. Air Force Art Program, with nine paintings in the Pentagon Collection. Mark has exhibited his art at numerous galleries and they are in corporate and government collections around the U.S. He's been recognized with national and international art awards including First Place in the 2007 Aviation Week & Space Technology Magazine's competition. He has the unique distinction of designing nine Space Shuttle mission patches for the astronauts. He likes the challenge of "drawing" detailed images on an Etch-A-Sketch. Mark earned a BS in Natural Science and an MS in Systems Management/Research & Development. He is a member of the Society of Flight Test Engineers, the Experimental Aircraft Association, a Senior Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Locally he is a member of the Tehachapi Society of Pilots, and a board member of the non-profit Arts, Science, and Technology Corporation (AST), providing volunteer support and service in science, technology, engineering, arts/agriculture, and math (STEAM) to Tehachapi area schools.

You can learn more about Mark's work on his website at: pestanafineart.wordpress.com

We hope you'll join us at Gallery 'N' Gifts on Nov. 4 from 5 to 8 p.m. to celebrate the artwork, partake in the refreshments and enjoy our community's creative spirit.