Debrah Martin

Debrah Martin

I studied art and literature at university but followed a variety of other career paths until 2013 when I made the bold decision to settle full-time into my two first loves – writing and then, subsequently, painting. As an author, my work centres around the observation of how action creates reaction, absorbing and reflecting the ambiance of the world and situations in which those reactions occur. As an artist, however, I am inspired by what has already become, and my paintings seek to reflect the drama and diversity of what we so often take for granted around us.
I work mainly in oils because I love the depth and texture that they lend to painting, although I still do some work in watercolour for its luminosity, and pen and ink for the power of clean, bold lines. My oil paintings are never 2D, and their impasto structure is intended to draw you in and make you part of them too. I particularly enjoy painting land, sea and skyscapes, and use the sfumato technique made famous by Leonardo da Vinci to blend and integrate colours from wild gamut to continuous whole. I often work with a limited palette, but I find all the variation I need in this and the free use of paint on canvas to manipulate light and shade, texture and smoothness. 2019 sees the release of the book I have written on how I paint using the sfumato technique, and how painting and writing cross-fertilise in my creative world. It is called Savage Seas and Sfumato Skies – painting lyrical landscapes in brushstrokes and words. Its release coincides with my participation in the second of a series of nine exhibitions across Oxfordshire in 2019 and extending further afield in 2020 and 2021. The exhibitions also include painting demos, workshops and author-artist talks to encourage community participation in the arts. The full exhibition list can be found on my website at http://www.debrahmartin.co.uk/diary/
Writing, I have won two literary awards – for Patchwork Man, a psychological thriller, and for Chained Melodies, a literary fiction. I also regularly teach and mentor.

My website is www.debrahmartin.co.uk
Artist groups: www.literarties.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DebrahMartin.Author.Artist
Instagram: @debrahmartin_author_artist
Twitter: @StorytellerDeb
Email address: info@debrahmartin.co.uk
Tel: 07887 840405

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