My practice is ‘in the moment’, fully immersed and focused on the marks I am making. Through this process I am able to open myself to more meaningful outcomes. I find it helpful to restrict materials -  through restriction I am able to free my mind and focus only on the paper, removing the distraction of material and page, truly immersing myself in the subjects mood.

I largely focus on organic forms, particularly the human figure. I take great inspiration from both the structure and tenor of the body. I distort the figures in my pieces, taking inspiration from lifedrawings in my sketchbook. This allows me to depict the characters in my paintings in the way that I truly see them. I currently enjoy using a minimal pallette, inspired by the german expressionists of the early 20th century. I am drawn to this pallette for another reason that is not aesthetic. I am going through a turbulent and ghastly historic police case that has stuck itself in my mind. I feel at war, so am drawn to the tenor of war. When I paint the torment is released onto the page, it is a true reflection and expression of my current situation, abstracted only slightly so the viewer can fully understand what each piece means.

Leaning towards abstraction, my practice is evolving to be a release of my thoughts. I tend to live in my own head and I draw my inspiration from my diary, quick sketchbook drawings, memories and dreams which find a way of being repeated in my mind.

My paintings take a lot of energy for me to confront as they are realisations of my own visceral feelings. I like to warp my images although there is always a figurative element within them, and I have been recently drawn to painting family members; mostly thinking about my relationships with them.  

I wanted to do the painting course at Leith School of Art to better understand where my own art is coming from, I now feel more confident and have a lot more direction in my work as a result of being there. Being at LSA has taught me to enjoy my mark making, as it is both delicate and expressive, and to think deeper about what I draw inspiration from. I am grateful to Val and my peers at LSA for giving me fresher ways of thinking about art, and am looking forward to seeing my art improve for the remainder of the course. 

 I really enjoy climbing Munros as each is a challenge and often an adventure. Some of my art is an attempt to relive and depict those feelings of journeying, grandeur often with an overwhelming sense of solitude and the pleasure of the multi sensory experience of fear, joy, temperature, wind, the ever changing forms and colours in all weathers. Sometimes a particular aspect is enhanced such as colour, real or imaginary over form which is tending towards abstraction. During lockdown I have been fortunate that the Pentlands were accessible legally, hills which can be as challenging as Munros in some weather conditions. 

After training as a primary teacher many years ago, with art as one of my main subjects, I’ve had a passion for painting and other art forms ever since. On moving to Edinburgh last year, I was delighted to join Leith School of Art to work with excellent tutors and fellow artists in a comfortable creative space to develop my skills and find my ‘voice’ as an artist.

Over the past year I’ve experimented with various styles, techniques and ways of expressing myself. I’ve found myself moving away from representational art towards abstraction and a greater sense of line, texture and colour. I look forward to further experimentation on my journey as an artist.

As someone who is fairly new to completing my own Artwork I decided to apply to LSA for the one year painting course. This was after attending a few evening and weekend Art classes. I was attracted to LSA due to attending previous student exhibitions and having been impressed with the ambience, warmth and creative environment of the studio space.

My practice is taking me on a journey with the common themes being the use of bold colours and naive compositions. I find that my best pieces are ones where I go with the flow and don’t do too much pre-planning. This is at odds with my work career where I was a project manager which involved planning to the nth degree.

My aspiration is that my pieces are diverse, but all have my distinctive signature.

Martin started painting in 2019 while on self imposed rural retreat in France (no tv, no internet). When he came back to Scotland he did the beginners course at the LSA before the ODP Course. Figurative painting is his main source of inspiration and in particular the works of David Park and the Bay Area Figurative School; Frank Auerbach; Nicolas de Stael; Grace Hartigan and Elaine de Kooning. He also loves Francisco Goya. Martin wants his work to be narrative....to tell a story and create questions and speculation especially about male relationships or events that may have already occurred or are imminent. He also wants to explore rhythm and movement and vitality  through colour and bold physical strokes and aims to work BIG in future. 

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