The Orchard: A Painting for Teens Opposing Poverty

The Orchard is a unique modern day interpretation of the story of Jesus and the Children in Luke 18:16 "But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." The painting is set is an apple orchard, very similar to those found in the Northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, especially around Warren, Fredrick and Clark Counties who are famous for their apple orchards. Currently a work in progress, The Orchard is a 24" by 30" painted with acrylic polymer on canvas by artist Linda L. Martin. This painting is destined for Teens Opposing Poverty. (more info to come on this very worthy organization) The artist is known primarily for her horse and companion animal portraits and her paintings of Virginia Country Life.

Photo by Mary Tayne
stage 1: The background is nearly complete

Follow the development of the painting here, with updates on http://www.llmartin.com/ ,
Linda L.Martin Affordable Animal Portraits and Art on Facebook and follow LindaLMartin on Twitter. Pass the word along to all your friends!!

Question of the Week:What does your favorite color say about you?

I belong to a group in Facebook called: Christian Blog and Podcast. Each week the blog owner, JoJo poses a question for discussion about communication.

This week is telling something about each other by the color we choose to represent our selves i.e. our favorite color.

I had to think about it a while, because as an artist I dont just deal with simple color, I deal with color pallets. I do have some that I favor over others. Winter earth tones for examble are usually a mixture of colors we could consider neutral. lots of ochers, siennias and umbers, cobalts, pthao's ultramarine with a variety of whites. When it snows things perk up a bit. And we move to a lot of violets, blues and whites. Occasionally after a snow storm there is a sunset so brilliant in pinks, oranges and golds that you cant imagine any chemist making that color combination. Another way to perk up the drab monotonous tones is such a wonder to me at times. God colors the birds to give a bright spot in the darkness: Gold finches , Cardnials, Purple finches and a variety of Woodpeckers with spots of yellow or red.

So having said all of this I truely think it hard for me to choose simply one color. But as near as I can tell it would be Fuchisa. Fuchisa is that color half way between Red, and a mixture of White and Purple.. that is both warm and cool. It is too dark for pink, too pink for red, too red for purple and too cold with its touch of blue to be warm. When I think of it in terms of color theory it is a accent color. Like little red birds dancing about a winter picture. It compliments greens in the summer and spring by dotting it randomly about a painting you can create the illusion of birds and life thorughout a predominatly green landscape painting. You can use it as dots on the inner part of animimal eyes or people eyes to give them an illusion of life.

Also since it is a mixture of all colors it is the sum of its part. Red the blood of Jesus Shed for our sins, Blue life giving water that washes away our sins, and the word that transforms our minds into his, mixed together they make purple wich is wisdom and royalty, handed down through spiritual knowledge of who Jesus is and why he loves us and how it should help us view the world. White is a mixture of all colors, the relationship between us and each other and God himself. It is the White that tempers the red and the touch of blue to make the color seem more gentle, yet inviting and brighter.

I think what my favorite color says about me is that I am a complicated mixture of all of my parts. One person sees me and thinks I am one way, usually because that they see something familure to them, and another person will see me another way and think something different for exactly the same reason. Fuchsia is fun, bold, vibrant,it irritates the senses of some, is taken for grant-it by many, it is often rejected because it seems to over power or seems out of place. Many times its importance is over looked entirely until its gone. Then no one really knows what is missing unless it is added later by someone who understands its signifigance and places it appropraitly.

I do not think that I would paint a whole painting in Fuchsia but with out a little touch of it here and there the vibrance and sparkle of a work of art would be missing. Like an artistic dej vu. You know everything looks right but until its applied there is no life.

A Fuchsia person is ofter avoided, overlooked, seen to be intimidating and wanting control but really they just want to give love and be loved. When you realize your possition in Christ, believing him, loveing him and understanding that all these things are strengths for your assignment; then you are willing to wait on him and yield to his ways, his voice. When you learn to rest and not to move until he tells you to he will use this bold beauty to minister to the needs of others, to be his voice on so many levels and bask in the love he created you in. It can be and is a very very amazing journey.

LLMartin Affordable Pet Portraits and Animal Art On Facebook

Affordable Animal Portraits are now on Facebook.

You can now search me on Facebook. Just look for Linda L. Martin. I also have a page on Facebook. If you love pets especially cats and dogs please become a fan of my page: Linda L.Martin Affordable Animal Portraits and Art
Also dont forget to check out the Retrospective of Horse paintings and other features of my website : http://www.llmartin.com/

My current special is:

a 5" by 7" watercolor single animal pet portrait for $29.95 (plus $3.50 for S&H )

For other great deals check out my auctions on Ebay. Just search LLMartin on ebay and current auctions as well as My online ebay Store will come up.

The Winter Move

A note to all my friends, customers, and patrons,
After much thought I have decided to take a break from exhibiting my work at The Shoppes of Culpeper. After January 31st we will have moved all of my Art out. The reason is purely an economical move to take a rest from the rigors of managing a space so far from home and also to look for a new gallery space closer to home. I do hope to return to The Shoppes in a few months and will announce it here. In the mean time If you are reading this and want to see my work It will be there At the Shoppes of Culpeper until January 29th, 2009. Most items offered are are reduced in price up to %30. including 9 x 10 prints and blank note cards. Thank you so much for your patronage and support.

My Friend's Home Made Soap in my gallery space

This is our special dispay for my friend's hand made Plain Jane Soap.

Another view of the Space at the Shoppes of Culpeper

The Another view of my Gallery Space at the Shoppes of Culpeper in Culpeper, Va

Christmas and Greeting Cards at the Shoppes of Culpeper

You can order note cards when available through my websight gift shop on www.LLMartin.com

Grandma's 1960's Card Tree

What a great setting for the Little Altered Art decorations, My grandmother's Christmas Card Tree.

My Little Christmas Tree at the Shoppes of Culpeper

This year I tried my hand at Altered Art Ornaments. Here my little tree is decorated with Cardinals with theme collages on the back.

Christmas Time At the Shopps Of Culpeper

This is the first you see when you enter my gallery space at the Shoppes of Culpeper. I have a number of paintings, reproductions and various complimentary collectibles.
See more at www.LLMartin.com

Another Part of the Mural

Here is the fox going to ground. I actually loved this part of the mural the best. I loved putting together those brambles and of course my signature ferns, which I usually paint in my wildlife or woodland paintings.

Wall Mural:The View from the Front Door Entry Hall.

The space was so narrow that you couldnt quite get a good streight on view of the project when finished. I was actually standing in the door way of the office when I shot this angle. Another intersting note about this Mural is that The Client and her Friend both learned how to paint sky and mountains just for the purpose of working on this project. They both helped paint an those elements. Each person was assigned a section and I blended the bits together. It worked wonderfully. I have to admit it did increase the time on the project by weeks because of the stopping and starting due to the classes. I think, however, that it was worth it.

One last note. This mural is signed in two places. One at the bottem right as usual. And one near the horses incase for some reason they might have to move the mural , if they loose the signature near the edge there will still be a signature on the Mural where ever it is installed.

It was quite a fun project. I really enjoyed the people I was working with as well as the opportunity to paint on the wall and to paint really large.

For more of Linda's work check out her website at: www.LLMartin.com

The Dogs on the Mural

Here are the family dogs. I was a little nervous about the boxer because she is a brindle and such a sweetheart. The last day of painting she posed for me. It was really awsome. I got some cute photo's of her with the light streaming through the window. Notice the blue tractor in the back. We tried to get the colors as close as possible in every aspect however keeping in mind that it was all fantasy.

More of the Mural

The Fox Hunting Party. These ponies actually were portraits of the the family equines. The Bay horse, while not belonging to the family, is fox hunted frequently by the client.

What I did for my summer Vacation: Painting a Mural

This is the view from the kitchen/den of the finished project. The Mural was about 8 ft wide and at the tallest section it was about 6 feet tall. There was a chair rail about 3 ft above the floor.

Wall Mural is of a fantasy Fox Hunt with the Client and her children. The family dogs were also included. And even the father was in the picture in the background.

For more about Artist Linda L.Martin see her website at www.llmartin.com

One of my favorites from the Mini Murals to Go!

I got the idea for this little Mini Mural to Go from the garden shed in my back yard. There was a weird sort of opening that looked about the right size for a small animal that had been cut in one side of the shed. So I just let my imagination run wild! I showed it to my landlord's husband as i was working on it and he laughed at my wide use use of artistic liscense. Then he told me that one of the children was a farmer and had just taken some of the chickens they raised to the 4-H show. Funny art imitating life telepathicly(?) Ok that is a stretch. Anyway the painting turned out really cool. Its on masonite in acrylic polymer with a semi gloss polymer finish that glares a little too much for me to photo graph it streight on. It has holes drilled in the top for easy hanging. It can also be framed. The largest of these Mini Murals To Go is 6' by 3'. This one is about 18" by 12". I say about because we had the guy at Lowes cut the board for us. Amazing the way they do that. Then my trusty assistant, Mary, primes the surface and drills the holes( not necessarily in that order) and I plan it, draw it and paint it. I have one I am working on now that is 4' by 2' of a Dairy landscape over near Brandy Station, Virginia.

We had hoped to have it finished by our July 19th event but I stopped being super human at about 25 years old. Anyway I will post that one too when Its ready.

If you are in the area please stop in at the Country Shoppes of Culpeper located at 10046 James Monroe Hwy on 29 south of Culpeper,Va If you need better directions, google maps works nicely. Email me at contact@llmartin if you are going to be in the area and let me know how you liked the work.

www.llmartin.com

Also Available at the Country Shoppes of Culpeper Fine Art Reproductions by LLMartin

There are a variety of reproductions of artist Linda Martin's originals, priced for collectors, in wide price ranges starting at $3.oo for Art Trading Cards. Included on display are framed and ready to frame prints of watercolors and other works on Canvas and paper and graphite drawings of a variety of popular pets. Currently we are limited in size to 8.5 by 11 as the largest print we can offer.
New this year LLMartin Artistic services is offering Blank note cards. Each package contains 8 blank cards of the image of an original work of art by the artist and 8 envelops. Currently we are offering them for an introductory price of $12.49 a set. We also hope to sell them through our on line Gift store. Watch this space to see when they will be available.

www.llmartin.com

Paintings on Display At The Country Shoppes of Culpeper by LLMartin

Here are two views of our Center Display. There is a variety of Original Art work for Sale in the LLMartin Artistic Services Space Ranging in Prices from $45 for original Drawings to $2500.00 for a Highly Collectible Equine Painting. Artist Linda Martin also has offers affordable commissioned paintings in small formats that start at $10.00 or 2.5" to 3.5" and range to $125.00 for a 9 ' by 12" Watercolor.

You can check out more of her prices and terms of sale on her website: www.llmartin.com under pet portraits or landscape commissions.

Views From The Country Shoppes of Culpeper July 19th event

Among other things offered at the Country Shoppes of Culpeper, the Space occupied by LLMartin Artistic Services has original paintings, Such as Mini Murals to Go , note cards from originial paintings and Fine art reproductions of original work. This grouping is of the non partisan Vote series celebrating the rights of all US citizens to participate in the political process.

The Country Shoppes of Culpeper are located about 5 minutes South of Culpeper, Virigina on Rt. 29

www.llmartin.com

Whew!!! Im Glad for a Breather!

This month has been a real whirlwind! We had to move out of Fox Den Antiques and into The Country Shoppes of Culpeper. The Economy has been a real challenge.

Thankfully, I have a grant for some of what I am doing or I never would have survived this long. I do see that I need another grant and/or some very large commissions to take me trough the rest of this year and next year. Nothing is certain in this world and especially in this economy. Nothing expect the knowledge that God is faithful.

Several Months ago when faced with the challenges and uncertainty of moving from Warrenton to Remington I remember crying out to God for Mercy because at times the stress was unbearable. There were so many people pulling at me, so many people making decisions about my life and I had no control. And God comforted me with his Spirit. He said in his still small voice speaking to my intuition, "I will remove every obstacle in your path so that it will be as though the obstacle was never there".

I stood on that promise each time Some disaster struck to prevent me from moving forward with the process. I am still standing on that promise. God Challenged me again this month with :" Watch how I will provide for you!" Each wonderful promise he gives me I cling to like a spiritual adornment spoken like his words of love for me. I look forward to the day when I can paint those worship paintings, too.

But for this month I've lost track of how many paintings I had to accomplish. An 8 foot by 6 foot mural which I hope to finish tomorrow morning and provide pictures here. The lighting isn't very good for photography there. Hopefully later this week I will have posted the pictures of the mural.

The lion painting is waiting for approval and hopefully will also be shipped by the end of the week. We had a lot of delays trying to complete it because I had to move three times in the last three months ( my home, my studio, and my public gallery venue) and because its an oil painting it took each layer twice as long to dry because of the humidity. We had a tremendous number of rainy days and storms up until last week.

Its one of the reasons I try to allow 6 to nine months for oils. I don't like to use all those fancy driers or new fangled water base oil paints simply because no one knows how long they last or if the drying will be uneven and cause the entire painting to separate from the canvas. Some people have no problems with them. I've seen some real nightmares too ,when work by other artists was totally destroyed several months after the painting was delivered. I painted him the old fashioned and slower way.

If you would like to see the Lion : go to www.llmartin.com and scroll down to the works in progress link under the international counter. All of the stages from the approved drawing to the nearly finish product are there.