Martha Widmann
acrylic, oil, graphic design
website marthawidmann.com
blog marthawidmann.wordpress.com
twitter twitter.com/Widmann_art
“The nature of my work is hopefully a honest expression of my internal process as a human being. It isn’t easy for me to come to paint altho when I am painting, I am completely at home there. I really try to honor what shows up and how it shows up an I trust the universe perhaps more than I do myself. Once I can disarm the fear of not being good enough, I settle into the process and am at peace with what I discover. Maybe it is therapy, maybe not, but I know I am changed by the process of painting and with each painting.
Living in Three Rivers has made the process a happier one. The images that come have been less tortured, the space is more conducive for me and the energy here kinder and more compassionate. In LA it was harder for me and the images more raw emotionally, but cathartic none the less.
Mostly have shown my work in the Three Rivers Studio Tour. Also have shown with two other women at the Court House Gallery in Exeter. It causes some angst as I don’t paint fast and I am not prolific so I looked at that as a great experience and learned a great deal from it.
Mainly my goal now is to address consistency and concentrate on painting regularly. To start to see what comes from that and where it leads me.
I went to SUNY Geneseo in upstate NY. I went primarily because they had the largest collection of bavarian limestone for use in lithography/printmaking, which was the direction I wanted to go with my art … to be a printmaker.
Other influences have been – As a child growing up I was profoundly moved by Georgia O’Keeffe. not just by her paintings but how she lived her life. I felt a kinship to her emotionally and life perspective. I felt as if there was someone out there who understood how I saw the world around me but I always struggled with being able to express myself…I could relate but couldn’t see my own “self” to express.
I think moving to Three Rivers put me back in touch with nature so I could start to see my self better – I started to ride horses and that full body way of communication opened me up and I started to feel like I did when I was a little girl- imagining and playing in what I was imagining. The horse then started to show up in my paintings and I’ve been working with these images for the last six years. I have several artist friends who paint full time that I truly admire and see their process which is a beautiful gift for me…Daniel Nevins is one and Jim Entz is another.
I vacillate between feeling like an artist and then not…and when I am working graphically, all I tend to think about is how much I want to be painting. and once I begin to paint again, I feel like a painter. I am grateful for that.”
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How to get Studio Tour tickets…earlybird price until March 5.
