Martha Kennedy creates paintings in brilliant, bold, luscious colors. Her art can be found in galleries in New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Sit back and enjoy as we have
A Conversation with Martha Kennedy
Golden Apple I
-When did you begin creating art?
I've always been drawing and painting. I went
from high school art classes to Ontario College of Art, Toronto for a year, then
wandered and traveled for a few years before returning to University of
Minnesota, Minneapolis for my BFA in Printmaking. Throughout all of this I was
creating, but I didn't really get serious until a few careers later. A friend's
death and the death of my father made me realize that I didn't have forever to
'get back to my art'. That was about 8 years ago, when my art became a priority
in my life.
Floating Avocado
-What motivates you to create? I've always had a compulsion to push myself, to do the best I can at whatever I do. Art is no different. And playing with colour and form helps me stay sane. Without a creative outlet I feel driven, but not grounded. Besides those basics, there are some day-to-day things such as galleries wanting new work, the pressure of next seasons' outdoor shows and needing 'inventory' for those, the pleasure I see when other's like my work, and are willing to spend their money in order to take it home with them.
One extremely important thing has been my excellent support network here in Santa Fe a weekly group whose focus is on marketing our art (to galleries, putting together portfolios, sharing war stories, plus sharing those barren times in the creative process). And a monthly critique group, focusing on what we each are doing, problem solving, looking at our paintings and seeing how to improve.
-How does all the traveling you've done affect your artwork?
I think all life experiences come out in some way in an artists' work. All those
new experiences, the opportunities to stand on your own and figure out what to
do next. I think Latin America opened up an entire new world of colour as did
California. Just driving across this country opens the eyes and senses to
different light, different forms
Living and walking through the desert has been
an incredibly opening experience for me: surrounded by huge skies and vistas,
able to see for miles I often feel that I can expand outwards without
boundaries here. It opened me up to painting landscapes for the first time,
almost as an extension of my self.
Desert Clouds At Sunset
-Why do you create art? What does creating do for you or give to you?
This gets back to that idea of keeping sane and grounded. No matter how hectic
life gets, when I get into the studio everything other than what's on the easel
in front of me basically drops away. It's a form of meditation, where thoughts
run through my mind but immediately move right on out. Working with colour also
seems to calm me, turn negative to positive. There is also a very sensual (not
sexual, but of the senses) quality, and that feeling of giving birth the
surprise when I look at what I've done in the past hours in amazement. Yes,
there is often a lot of frustration as, a lot of problem solving, a lot of "what
was I thinking?!?" but eventually I get through that (or hide the piece away in
the flat files for a few months), and end up with something satisfying and
separate from me.
It also, now, is starting to give me money! Not simply paying for it. This aspect of art having an end product that people are willing to spend their hard earned bucks for is very gratifying. It definitely massages the ego, but it also makes for these incredible connections to others. My collectors are often people I would never have met except for their attraction and love of my work. They run the gamut from those who truly feel what I do when I'm making a painting they 'get it' all the way to those who think the colour will match their new armchair. It's fascinating to have conversations with all of them.
The money also makes it possible for me to just do my art I don't have to have a 'real' job that distracts me from painting. Although marketing one's own work is a business and probably takes at least 60% of my time when would I have time to work for someone else?
-Do you do your landscapes from a reference or from your mind? Why? Always from reference, field sketches but mostly photos. I don't follow them totally, but find that nature is much more randomly creative than I could ever be, so I just expand on her.
Sunset Shadows I
-You do a lot of studying and cropping of photos before you start painting.
Do you have the painting pretty much set in you mind when you start painting or
is there still a lot of unexpected yet to come?
I always like to think that I've got it all figured out before it hits the
paper, but
there is always room for the unexpected, and for just how I feel on
a certain day. Sometimes I'll use a photo from winter, but be reacting with
colours that I saw on a walk that summer morning. Or I'll accidentally find a
different colour combination I love and have to work that in. All those well
laid out plans can get thrown out the door quickly (or slowly and painfully). I
find that when I can remain fresh and open, it all seems to work out for the
best.
-What attracted you to the oil pastel medium? What made you first pick them
up? I had to pull together my BFA
solo show really fast, so decided to not just do monoprints with drawings, but
go to the drawing directly somehow oil pastels as well as soft pastels were
what I used. The colours were a big attraction. Years later, I was reintroduced
through an oil painting class all our weekly assignments were in oil pastel,
so we weren't having to haul wet paintings around. It was the colours, the
consistency, the directness of drawing with the richness of paint plus the
ease of being able to work on the fly I could work 30 minutes, then rush off
to my job, not having to do any major cleanup.
-What artists inspire you? The
landscape in New Mexico openness, big sky and air, feeling of freedom without
too many bodies around. With still life colour and form, and being able to set
up those 2 things with infinite possibilities.
-Your paintings are sometimes large (like 24x28"). How long does a painting
typically take you? I usually work
on 5-10 at a time, so it's a difficult question. Sometimes and 8" x 8" will take
only a few hours, other times I'll work on it for days, a few minutes at a time.
I know that I put together a show of 15 new pieces in 3 weeks once, so it also
depends on how much pressure I'm under.
-What techniques do you prefer to use in Oil Pastel? Do you put them on
thick or let the paper show through? Do you blend a lot? Use a lot of layers?
Lots of layers and blending, no paper
showing through. But the pastel is usually not very thick. The basic drawing and
colour go down pretty quick, and then I basically 'glaze' on layer after layer
to get more complex and glowing colour.
Green Bowl With Red & Yellow II
-What brand of OPs do you use the most and why? I use Sennelier, Holbein and Caran D'Ache. Caran and Sennelier have the most intense colours and are best for glazing. Holbein more for the base, but I mix them all in each colour of each brand has a different quality, some can mix with almost anything else and not turn to mud, others can produce mud quickly. Holbein seems best for me for when I need paler colour, or to mix with the crayons themselves on the paper. But they have a great dark blue that I use instead of a black very rich.
-What surface do you like to use? Preference in surface color or texture?
I use BFK Rives, plain old white it has
a slight tooth, a receptivity to the oil pastel that pleases me. I've tried a
lot of different surfaces and this works best for me with my technique.
-If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting with Oil Pastels,
what would it be? As with any
medium, you just need to play with the material until you find if it works for
you take advice and learn 'rules', but don't let any of that stop you from
exploring on your own to find your voice in oil pastel.