“I had ADHD and was put in the slow-learning class in 4th grade. That was a blessing in disguise. I was embarrassed and learned how to deflect attention. I became the class clown and could do voices from Barney Fife, Green Acres and Gilligan’s Island. The entertainer needed props, so I started making them and learned about paper mache. I used them for practical jokes. When I was 11 or 12, I wanted to build a dinosaur park. I opened a monster museum when I was 19 or 20 and I didn’t know anything about business. These were the things in the attic, under the stairs, under the bed. The subconscious fears. The point was to face your fears and face the bully. Put a face to the fear and you no longer fear it. Our imaginations get carried away and we worry about things that never happen. People fear what they don’t understand. Elvis was of the devil. 

in 2012, I did a major museum show. The teacher who taught me in 4th grade came and I later tracked her down. I asked her if I was really that stupid. She said she put me in that class because I was so advanced artistically and she could help me develop. For 43 years I thought I was stupid. However, because I was put in that class, I realized that the other kids who didn’t advance were being picked on and teased. I stepped in and used my art of deflection. I realized very early that compassion is what measures us at humans. I just want to create an atmosphere that helps others and gives them a chance to step outside of themselves for a little while. I do April Fool’s jokes every year and put my pieces in crazy places in small towns around here. Last year I put giant insects on buildings of a town suffering economically. They left it up for about six months because it brought in tourists. 

I want people to be filled with wonder and inspired. When you feel good about something, or smile and laugh, it is healing. Fame and money are meaningless. I have designed props for high-end putt-putt courses, science museums, billboards, themeparks, and Broadway plays. I did Bamahenge, the dinosaurs and Lady of the Lake for George Barber in Elberta, Alabama. I was working in my studio outside of Lexington, Virginia, and George’s brother-in-law stopped by in a beat-up old truck. He said his brother-in-law might want to buy them. I said $25,000 which was an outrageous number in the early 90s, but he paid it.

I have been through the struggles. My business burned twice. As I sat across the street watching my work burn and reading the letter about how my monsters are the work of the devil and should be destroyed by fire, I thought about how to rebuild it again. What else could I do? I also divorced because I couldn’t separate work from life and almost went bankrupt when business was bad. I was constantly trying to sell my work and no one was buying it. But when it is in you, it is in you. Now I help charities and my community. I have an off button that is more like a pause button and have a life away from here. I have two daughters and live in a normal house. There is nothing crazy there and I learned how to divide the two. 

I am not far from sixty. I want to open a school that teaches the work that I do so that it passes down. I have learned we never own anything and nothing is permanent. All we can do is keep going and rebuilding. 

(Mark Cline. He built Dinosaur Kingdom II at Natural Bridge, VA and gives ghost tours in Lexington, VA.)