dIck mARTin Creative Artist
Sometimes I am not sure if I am a sculptor who craves to paint, or a painter who craves to sculpt. Basically, I think I have the creative spirit within and I need to be in my studio working on interesting projects. My Muse and I have a great time there. In practice, all my work is sculptural, including my paintings which are mostly very 3D. My work is nearly always conceptual. For me it is what the work represents, the creative thinking behind the image, which is of the greatest interest. Inspiration comes from an eclectic range of sources such as old and new philosophical ideas, popular culture, science, dance, poetry, Greek and Norse mythology and ancient sources. A large dose of humour is usually part of the mix. After studying the Philosophy of Art at university I gradually became a practitioner as well as a passionate follower of Art. I now have work all over the world which is such a wonderful buzz! Ceramic Sculpture: The sculptures are made with a direct honesty to the nature of the material. Clay is a wonderful material that can be pulled, squashed, shaped and squeezed. It takes an impression like no other material and, being a basic "earth" material, it is a joy to work with. Natural and manufactured objects are used to make impressions and produce strong textures. The work shows the way as it progresses into a finished piece. The hand becomes as important as the eye and the mind. Abstract Painting: I’m interested in paint, not as a material to create an illusion, but rather as a substance to be experimented with and celebrated. I like to explore the way paint moves and performs on the canvas with various textural elements. This produces a variety of fascinating sculptural and textural qualities. I often include materials such as sand, gravel, pumice, and pieces of canvas and hessian. This builds up to give a beautiful and fascinating surface that has a sculptural quality and encourages touch and sensation as well as visual awareness. Additions are collected from places I have visited around the world. The physical act of applying paint I see as an exhilarating form of ritual, a dance and a demonstration of a moment of perception in time. I like the work to have a strong visual impact and to be interesting close up as well as from a distance.
Our father Adam sat under the Tree and scratched with a stick in the mould; And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his might heart, Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves, "It's pretty, but is it Art?" Rudyard Kipling
“The sculpture is endlessly interesting and of rapturous beauty. Her shape, textures, and colours are mesmerising and evoke the art of the ancient world. She beckons and baffles as I accompany her on the journey.” MH, UK
dIck mARTin Creative Artist
UPDATE 1st January 2024 HAPPY NEW YEAR To celebrate, we have Egyptian animal-headed deities now on the Egyptian Mythology page - they were great fun to make and I’ve already got more on their way. They and the Shabtis are smaller than my usual figures, but I felt some variety in size was needed - although my tendency is always to go larger!