Q: So How Did You Get Started?

A: My 4th grade teacher Mrs. Frizzell in Key West, Florida thought that I had artistic talent. That stuck with me and I started to develop myself as an artist and have been going ever since, studying and learning and a lot a lot a lot of practicing! 

Other teachers that inspired me are Mr. Duncan from George Washington Carver Middle School in Lexington Park, Maryland; Mrs. Morrisson at Bayside High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia; Barclay Sheeks at Virginia Weslyan College and all of my teachers and professors at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia including Ron Snapp,  Robert McCullough, Jim Chalkley, and the late great A.B.Jackson*.  There are other teachers and guides whose names have been forgotten but have left an indellible impression on my artistic development.

Q: Who inspires you?

The history of art inspires me - starting with the cave people (I'm sure it wasn't just cave men painting and carving, but cave women as well!) Rennaissance art inspires me, ancient Incan art and the Nazca lines inspire me!

A lot of artists inspire me - Michaelangelo Buonarotti, Leonardo Da Vinci, Jan Vermeer, Sandro Botticelli, Rembrandt, Vincent Van Gogh, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Paul Cezzanne, Claude Monet, Pierre Renoir, Mary Cassatt, Paul Gauguin, Edvard Munch, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec,Henri Matisse, Salvadore Dali, Pablo Picasso,  Edward Hopper, Marc Chagall, Georgia O'Keefe, Norman Rockwell, Frido Kahlo, Andy Warhol, Basquiat,  Joan Walsh Anglund, and Dr. Suess (Theodore Suess Geisel).  I'm sure there are others, but this is a good list that has definitely made it's mark on my psyche as an artist.  

Q. What kind of art do you like to make?

A. I love working in many different mediums.  My first love is not crayon, but pen and ink and watercolor. (I do love crayon though!)  I then gained a love for oils from my mother - she took some art lessons and later passed her supplies on to me - some of the brushes are still in my collection!  I also love working in acrylic.  I like working small, I like working big.  I like a challenge, I just like to be creative! We are all artists at heart, no matter what the outcome, art is a form of expression.

* If you ever meet me, ask  me about this asterisk.  :-)

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for visiting my site.  I look forward to meeting you either by email or in person at a show or out in the world somewhere!  Since I can't be everywhere at all times, I encourage you to email me if you have any questions. 

Art is good.  We can not go forward in our history without art.  You are amazing for visiting my site and reading this.  Thank you for your love of art.

martha