ORGANIC STRIPES

"Fire Sticks"
30" x 16"
Marie Martin
2011

For years I've walked nearly every morning; walks filled with much greenery, trees and flowers of all kinds. This year, as Spring's sun has begun to bring its special warmth, I am keenly aware of the profound blessing of being able to greet another Spring for another year. In "Fire Sticks" I've borrowed The Stripe to express the passion I feel in connection with our beautiful Japanese Maple. Each Fall, I am crestfallen, yet reminded of beautiful Life Cycles, when the fiery, flaming red-orange-yellow leaves begin to wither and die. I'm even more appreciative each February when tiny, tender red buds appear--eager to begin their march into the Life Cycle. Below is a bit of Haiku I wrote to celebrate our tree. More soon. ~~ Thanks for visiting.

Bursting orange red
fiery Japanese Maples
flourish til Fall speaks~~

Marie Martin 2011

WAVY STRIPES

"Amber and Blue Waves"
24" x 24"
Marie Martin
2011

Humans think zebra stripes stick out like a sore thumb... hard to imagine that the stripes act as camouflage. But there's evidence that zebra stripes provide perfect protection. The wave line patterns resemble grass, much like the grass surroundings. The zebra stripes act like military fatigues. The fact that the stripes are black and white, unlike the tall green grass surroundings, is unimportant because the COLORBLIND lion is the zebra's main predator.  Motionless zebras in tall grass confuse The King of the Jungle.  ~~  More soon. Thanks for visiting.

VOICE

While trying to articulate what artists hope to accomplish, the words "Give voice to a single line..." tumbled out of my mouth. Picasso's line drawings came to mind.  Is there a better example of humble lines speaking purely with passionate simplicity? Maybe the attraction of stripes is that, in every single stripe, a viewer is able to momentarily grasp what a single line could become.  

"Femme" Pablo Picasso

HNY!

Another year passed.  The past few have been killers for artists, as well as so many others.  I've painted quite a bit, despite the weak buying climate.  Thankfully I NEED to paint because, for most emerging artists, that's really been the only motivation to continue putting brush to canvas. Gotta do it.

I've been working on a few new collections--waiting, watching to see what forms--realizing that Stripes, Bands, Boxes, Squares and Rectangles give me the most joy.  Going through my earlier works, it's clear I've been using these forms from the beginning. Including, "Lake District" (36" x 36") below, painted a few years back.

I've been wondering about The Stripe! People have always lived with the stripe. Organically and man-made. The Stripe continues to exist with a vengeance in today's society in all sorts of artistic efforts from bed sheets to architecture. In fact, if you look closely, there are few items that DO NOT contain striping of some sort--organized precise stripes to irregular, unruly striping patterns.  


I've Googled the heck out of the idea of stripes, and have learned they have quite a history. There is a story to be told.  I will try to tell the story through my art.  


Please join me as I explore The Noble Stripe, The Venerable Box, and other ideas as I tip-toe through 2012, and sign up for my (at least) monthly posts and let me know what you think.

Best wishes, Marie