William Martin: Squirreled Away Moments – Taking Breaks from Pandemic Life in Tucked Away Places

What emerged was a series of vivid memories of the circumstances of each painting. Time sitting happily under the eaves of a barn chatting with new found friends, sheltered from the rain and painting. Or time spent alone on the fog shrouded grounds of an ashram, smiling in childlike glee at the fun of trying to capture the fleeting mist. Each painting a memory of  the building sense of relief and joy and raw emotional nerves, deadened by the isolation of pandemic, beginning to revive.

Each act of making art a balm and a respite. Healing found in places at the edges of the new
normal of Pandemic life. Beautiful squirreled away places we need only to park the car, turn off the phone and visit with to feel renewed. My hope is that some of the peacefulness I found in making these paintings rubs off on those who spend time visiting with my work.

Biography: William Martin is an artist residing in New Jersey with a great love for plein air painting and reportorial drawing and illustration. He holds a BFA in illustration from Pratt Institute, and studied with the David Passalacqua School of Drawing and Illustration and the Dalvero Academy. His designs and illustrations have been featured on album covers, tour books, posters, first day cover prints, in local galleries, and at the Mystic Seaport Museum. When he isn’t at work, painting or drawing, he can be found spending time with his wife and two children, and Lily, the family west highland terrier.