Artist House Tour: Fine art photographers Mark and Kristen Sink thrive in their LoHi Bohemia

Husband-and-wife photographers Mark Sink and Kristen Sink are quite the artistic force in Denver, using their inspiring bohemian as a home base to launch massive community projects, to create special wet-plate photos and to collect books featuring historic family members who have impacted the field of photography. There are even some fabulous photographs of Mark's work with renowned Pop artist Andy Warhol from the 1980s.

See also: Artist House Tours: Featuring Eron Johnson's inspiring Valverde Loft.

Sink:My great grandfather's cameras made in the 1860s and toy cameras, film and digital cameras. The darkrooms in both the garage and basement.

Where can we find your artwork?

Online:

Galleries:

Shops:

Kristen has her work in a wonderful store Goldyn, and my work is always open for viewing at Redline.

It's walkable to the center of downtown. You can find the best food in town on every block. We have community and friends nearby and can walk to anything we need.

Is there a hidden gem in your neighborhood?

Our hidden gem would be friends Lynde and Patrick Dupay who own Z Cuisine Bistro and A Côté. They also opened a lovely new gallery in between called Entre Nous where they trade art for food. Our work is displayed out on the street on the side of the building and in their new gallery.

Best local resource? Three top favorites are MCA Denver, RedLine and Art Salons at A Côté.

Do you rent or own your home? I purchased the house in 1992.

What's the square footage? It is 1,800 square feet, not including garage and basement. We rent the downstairs to a wonderful artist, David Zimmer, but are about to take over the whole house and start a major renovation and expansion.

Yes, primarily our special lost-art wet-plate photography that is mostly outdoors. We also have a commercial studio and I have a studio at RedLine.

Define your home's style? 19th century Victorian.

What are you favorite artistic touches? Our home is filled with photography paintings and sculpture made by my artist friends.

What inspires you about your home?

The light is magical. The house is set back in the lot, so you have a long walk to the front door through the gardens. It's very private.

What is your favorite piece of art?

It depends on what day it is. We have several hundred pieces of art up in the house. I have a reclining nude sculpture my mother did in the 1950s that greets you on the front steps, that was dusted with virgin snow yesterday. That is my favorite today.

None to date. The house is original to the day it was built in the late 1800s. Although the scraping of the historic houses around us and the building of oversized cheap projects that don't fit the scale of other houses on the block is a challenge to deal with.

What are your guest's reactions?

They love how it is set back, the light and all the art hanging. It's a artist bohemia.

Have you repurposed any materials in your home?

I bring home tons of red stone and granite from houses they are tearing down in the area and the hand cut cobble stones that were once our city streets. I have several hundred tons. I save them before they grind them up when redoing a street. Westword did a story a while back called "Rubble with a Cause." I collect giant river rocks also. I collect the 19th century antique hand blown glass bottles found also when they are digging foundations for new projects. I have hundreds.

What's your favorite DIY project?

Our yard, our gardens, our darkrooms and putting the stone I dragged home to use as walkways and garden edging. We are about to start on digging out the basement and adding a roof deck to be able to look over the city and mountains again. Our views have been recently blocked by the crazy condo growth.

Did you indulge in any of your rooms? I collect photography books and modern furniture. I love modern furniture that architects designed in the 1920s and '30s. It's timeless.

I believe in Modernism, again it's timeless. Less is more. Clean, open and empty. Let art be the wallpaper and color for the room. Use honest materials, not faking to make plastic look like wood or stone.

What's your favorite time of day to create?

Computer work late night and early morning, when everyone is asleep. For photography, I work at the liquid light hour before sunset or dawn.

Do you have any creative organization tips?

Hide the the clutter like stereos, computers all that. You don't need to show it. They make them so small and wireless now anyway. Showing off electronics, appliances and possessions in general is lame, like college students do. As an artist, I personally need a visually quiet empty room to create and breath.

What is your favorite studio feature?

Being able to be home, doing bed office, working late night or early mornings, or when ever you want to be in your underwear. Working in the garden and making portraits at the same time. The light here is super.

When Jeanne isn't doing House Tours, she is blogging on how to create bohemian style with both vintage and recycled materials.