Ned Martin
What to do with all those annoying credit card offers you get in the mail? Ned Martin makes beautiful art.
Hunt Valley – April 13, 2007 -- To create photo-real landscape and still life paintings in oils, Ned Martin hand fashions painting tools from plastic credit cards. Ned invests considerably in scrubbing, scratching, and scrapping layers of textured paint until a realistic form reveals itself. While his paintings appear realistic, upon close scrutiny the viewer is delighted with broken impressionistic layers of paint that imply realism.
“Making painting tools from credit cards happened by accident,” said Ned. “I use to always cut up the cards and throw them in a cigar box and one day I was searching for just the right painting tool and found that I could easily cut exacting shapes and edges from the thin plastic.” Ned Martin is a Realism Oil Painter who lives in Hunt Valley. He spent his early life and his years as an art major at Towson State University exploring various painting media including acrylics, watercolors, pastels, and gouache. Several years ago, he began painting in oils and furthered his formal art training at The Schuler School of Fine Art in Baltimore where he learned the traditional oil painting techniques and principles of Jacques Maroger and the Old Masters. Ned has embraced the Schuler School experience and continues to meticulously prepare his own wood panels and grind his own paint.
A recent one man show at the Gallery at Diddywopps and Keeffers in Monkton has proven the appeal of Ned’s paintings. “Ned’s paintings are unique in that they provide the viewer the intellectual experience of a photo-realistic painting,” said Tami Satterfield, Curator of the Gallery. “But if you look closely, he applies paint in layer after layer, building textures with those hand made tools. The result of the mark making is impressionistic and the viewer is afforded an emotional response as well. Collectors appreciate his very unique technique. His paintings are selling well.”
The fine art of oil painting has taken on a new twist with Ned Martin’s use of painting tools made from credit cards. To appreciate the distinctive style, his photo-real landscape and still life paintings are a must see in person.
Artist Statement
When light plays across a surface it calls to me—makes me stop in my tracks. The textures and details demand that I examine closely their intricacies and nuances. I am most drawn to things that show evidence of time. If it is obvious that a thing has been around for a while, I find comfort there. And although human figures do not appear in my paintings, there is a human element always, a whisper of someone just out of view.
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