Donna L. Martin Fine Art

For Every Thing There is a Season For this piece, I began thinking about the different “seasons” in our lives.     I was thinking about the teenage girl who feels broken and out of place.   I thought about the young mother who feels overwhelmed and questions everything she is doing every day in raising her young children.   I thought about the middle-aged woman, with an empty nest and an empty heart, questioning her next move in life.   Our lives are constantly changing and evolving…moving through seasons.   None of these seasons last forever, even though it may feel like an eternity.   I believe we have to lean forward, ease into the transitions, no matter how painful.   This is how we can come out on the other side.   This piece changed and evolved, much like the seasons in our lives.   I added the words from Ecclesiastes 3, “For every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven”.    ...

"Truly, Madly, Deeply...Love" For some reason, I get on these kicks to create "Heart" work!  Maybe it's because I have a son who was born on Valentine's Day. I also seem to find "heart" shaped objects everywhere I go, and I get inspired.   Last year, I found this frame with the tin attached, at a summer market. It appears to be an old ceiling tile that they stapled to the inside of the frame.  It was the ideal inspiration, as I love combining old "things" and new artwork.  I knew this would be perfect for what I was thinking about creating with the hearts.  I created a piece of art (heart) for each individual tile.  They are respectively titled "truly", "madly", "deeply", and "love".  The pieces were constructed on 1.5" deep cradle board and attached to the tile.  They are coated with a glossy resin, which makes the colors "pop".  On the bott...

"Beyond Words" The photo above shows the finished piece, titled "Beyond Words".  The photos below show how it started out and the progression of this piece.  I got a wild hair and decided I needed to move out of my comfort zone and use some different colors.  To tell you the truth, I almost scrapped the whole painting.  It was REALLY out of my comfort zone! I painted with grays, burgundy, and threw in a little Van Dyke brown for good measure.  I added tissue paper, collage papers, and modeling paste with a stencil. I began to tone it down and soften it up by adding white.  I like how the other colors and patterns still show through.  There are alot of layers going on here!  At this point, I still don't know what is happening with this piece and I'm still not real happy with it, but I'm forging on. I used a wing stencil with some modeling paste over the top of these layers.  I painted the wings iridescen...

"I Love You Truly" This little painting is fresh off the easel.  It is heavily textured, has many layers, and the cross is made out of metal.  Everything came together for this one and I feel the title of the piece says it all,  "I Love You Truly". This painting is 12 X 12 X 1.5, done on a cradle board.  It will be finished with a resin coat and comes ready to hang. Feel free to send me an email with questions, comments, or if you are interested in purchasing. saltlightwatercolors@yahoo.com donnamartinfineart.com Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donnamartinfineart

     Fly Free I shared this last year, but thought it would be worth sharing again.  I have always been one of those people who is naturally shy.  It may have a little to do with the way we were raised, we were always told that children "are to be seen and not heard".  Growing up in that culture, I've always had trouble expressing what I'm feeling or saying what I wanted to say.  Why would I have anything worth saying?  I always felt that when I finally was able to say something, was anyone really listening?  To add to this, I grew up feeling like I really didn't fit in anywhere, that I was usually the odd one out.  I was the one who got picked last for the team, didn't stand up for myself...I didn't know how, didn't have " permission ".  I couldn't really find my place, or my voice.  I attended Columbine High School for one semester before we moved to a wonderful little small Texas ...

"Truly, Madly, Deeply...Love" For some reason, I've been on this kick to create "Heart" work!  Maybe it's because I have a son who was born on Valentine's Day and he's been on my mind lately, which is a good thing.  So, this is the latest big endeavor.  I found this frame with the tin attached, at a summer market. It appears to be an old ceiling tile that they stapled to the inside of the frame.  It was the ideal inspiration, as I love combining old things and new artwork.  I knew this would be perfect for what I was thinking about creating with the hearts.  I created a piece of art (heart) for each individual tile.  They are respectively titled "truly", "madly", "deeply", and "love".  The pieces were constructed on 1.5" deep cradle board and attached to the tile.  They are coated with a glossy resin, which makes the colors "pop".  On the bottom of each piec...

       Fly Free   I have always been one of those people who is naturally shy.  It may have a little to do with the way we were raised, we were always told that children "are to be seen and not heard".  Growing up in that culture, I've always had trouble expressing what I'm feeling or saying what I wanted to say.  Why would I have anything worth saying?  I always felt that when I finally was able to say something, was anyone really listening?    To add to this, I grew up feeling like I really didn't fit in anywhere, that I was usually the odd one out.  I was the one who got picked last for the team, didn't stand up for myself...I didn't know how, didn't have " permission ".  I couldn't really find my place, or my voice.    I attended Columbine High School for one semester before we moved to a wonderful little small Texas town.  When I first got there, the kids in ...