It's all most August!
Well, hello, ola, bonjour, et al.  Lovely weather here on the Pacific coast. Cool but not wet.
       Gardening has been my latest media.  Herbs, flowers and lettuce!  Fresh garden lettuce is unbelievable!  Strawberry plants are a real bargain because they send out runners and set down roots for new plants.  In this biome, rosemary bushes florish.  Corn does not do so well.  Best flowers for me are nasturtiums and the huge purple bell-shapped flowers of the campanula.  My borage gave up the ghost but my neighbor has a whole field of the heavenly blue thistles.  Artichokes need a lot of room because it is a huge stickerbush with fist-shaped globes appearing on top. Shades of childhood endeavors.

In addition to painting portraits for friends & family, dabbling in abstractions, I pass the time same as other elderly fat ladies of my class making stuffed animals by hand.  Great to sew away while listening to television. Keeps me out of the kitchen making savory stacks of  crepes filled with chopped mushrooms, onions spinach & cheese.

  These are the days of bonnie Prince Georgie, a chili-dog named Weiner, Boewing embarrassed, the Pope mobbed by waves of the faithful (fearing armageddon?) in Brazil and the prosecution of sleezy G.Z. for violating the civil rights of one of us Martins. (minorities may be welcome in politics, but the courtroom is still vintage Fifties). Besides falling asleep to the white-noise of the news, I'll read a paperback or two.

It feels like an early fall.  We usually have a gorgeous Indian Summer on the southwest coast of Washington state.  Good luck with the vicissitudes of weather in the rest of the country (Tipis have a lot going for them).
to whom it may concern, Barbara Martin

Ah, Spring 2013

Wonderful day in April on the Pacific Coast.  Since our weather is regulated by the Pacific Ocean, there is much less unexpected.  I continue to paint.  Am glad to say a small picture of oyster shells sold at the Rotary benefit Silent Auction held this year at the heritage museum in Ilwaco, WA. 
     Lace is a big thing in fashion these days and not the least reason is the fascination of Pablo Picasso with the French lacemakers who undoubtedly held their own in the creation of prodigious works of beauty during his heyday.  His fractured drawings full of lace maker pins (i.e.The Judgement of Paris) attest to that. Never fails to be of interest. Perennial relevance.
     Native American Elroy Martin, (indeed related) has taken up the Flemish Creuse tapestry weaving where he is lodged in Pine Knot, Kentucky. Op painter Chuck Close dabbled in it. Martin has promised to send me examples.  Can't wait.
     Gave a couple watercolor classes to a friend in January.  Always fun to do.
     Since I am enamored with my tablet and cell fone these days, I am not uploading photos. No USB cord.  Possibly getting shy?  Why not.  But who knows: I may be typing to myself.  More later.  B. Martin

March 2013

Aloha, y'all.  Currently no longer on display in Astoria, OR, at the Rio Cafe.  Getting too old to schlep paintings across the Columbia River on the bus to keep the show updated.
      However am participating in the Oysters and Art silent auction being held this year at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum in Ilwaco, WA on March 23, 2013 I believe, a Saturday evening. Tickets are $30 each and available thru the Peninsula Rotary Foundation, PO Box 752, Ocean Park, WA 98640, for whom it is a benefit. 
     There  will  be 3  of my paintings there in acrylic with rose and oyster shell theme.  Thanx.  Please attend!

Myartspace closed

I've been out of touch for so long did not know www. MyArtSpace.com closed in January of this year! Too bad. It was a nice gallery.  But like everything in commerce it is limited to the generation that created it (as well as tides & fate)
     Fortunately blogspot continues to hold its space open for us. more later. bmmartin

 Ola, mis amigos:  Been a long time between logs. Acquired tablet should facilitate new entries.

Still Around

It's been almost 6 months since I posted to my blog.  My art still appears in the Rio Cafe & Cantina in Astoria, Oregon.  Most recently I hung a ship"s figure head bust in the Cantina.  Paper mache it is a busty "boat-babe".  Shades of the Desdemona here at the Graveyard of the Pacific  southwest corner of Washington State.

Made a bobble-head doll for busdriver from Pacific Transit...to amuse her....and myself.

Read Evelyn Waugh"s Brideshead Revisited recently.  Glad to find that the artist's viewpoint has not changed much in 75 years.  Lots of good metaphor.  Published in 1943, contains a profile of a family with children named JohnJohn and Caroline.  Must have been personal friend of the Kennedy's. Rather a gossipy account of a single family of titled Brits goings & comings prior to WW II.

As you might assume, I am aging steadily.  Sold my last rundown car to the recycler and have been riding the bus ever since..saving beaucoup bucks!  getting exercise, walking and remembering when being outside was a prime objective.  Baking more. Watchingover my adult offspring.

Until i hook up the digital camera with documentation of my most recent work, photos will appear... Later...Barbara Martin

Painting "Cool Food" donated

Once again the Ocean Park, WA, Food bank has been gracious enough to accept a donation of my painting. This 11 x 14 acrylic features some of the great vegetables recommended by Dr. Joel Fuhrman in his "Eat to Live" diet. There are avocados, whole grain bread, garlic, green peppers, onions, squash. mushrooms and a lonely turnip. The good doctor recommends Greens, Onions, Mushrooms, Beans/berries, and squash. Barbara M. Martin, Long Beach, WA

Earthquake in Virginia/Hurricane Irene

Delivered latest original painting to my friends at the Rio cafe in Astoria, OR, who have just added a Cantina to their restaurant. The painting is of owner, Julie Hemeon, behind the counter in the cafe with a vignette of her mother and sister in what was the "Palm Room' which is now the access to the cantina. She loved the picture which delights me. more later. Barbara Martin

Student Art Show April-May 2011

Drop in to the Clatsop Com. college art gallery on Lexington Ave in Astoria to see "Just Eye- Ball It" sculpture by your hostest, B. Martin. The show, which is a good example of the product put out by the students in the art department, runs from April 21 thru May 21, 2011 (approx.) Lots of wonderful ceramics and 2-D paintings, prints and collages demonstate the gifts of instructors Kristin Shauck and Richard Rowland as well as emerging artists from the "graveyard of the Pacific"coastal northwest Oregon, southwest Washington.

This show will be followed by the opening of the college's literary organ Rain Magazine's exhibit of prose, poetry, photos and art on Thursday evening, May 26, 2011, from 6-9 pm. Ms Martin again has two worx, the charcoal of an old growth cypress shown below and a print, Morning Shower.

2 Bowls typical of the bowls project by R. Rowland, Doug Shadbolt. In foreground is my small effort made of 20% local materials in the clay body and 50% local clay in the glaze.











My tea pot, ceramic bird and wolf

to RAIN Mag.
charcoal drawing of old growth spreading cypress
found on the Long Beach Peninsula, WA

recent water color of North Head Light house, Ilwaco, WA (graveyard of the Pacific.

I have been SO busy! Have taken another quarter of ceramics at Clatsop Community College in Astoria, OR. The advanced members of the class were deeply involve in making bowls for the Women's Bowls Project benefit held yearly. The exacting standards of pottery master R. Rowland is evident in each and every bowl. see photo.

In addition two of my 3 submissions to RAIN Magazine published by the college were accepted, a woodcut print and a charcoal drawing: see attached. There will be an opening reading and art display on the evening of May 26, a Thursday, from 6-9.

On the Long Beach Peninsula at the Ilwaco Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum the 6 Annual Oysters & Art auction will take place on Saturday eve, 9-5, April 2, 2011. I have 3 items available to the highest bidder, a bowl, an acrylic painting of oyster shells and something else, I forget, perhaps a print of the Mechanical Pear.

Thank You for taking an interest! B. Martin

Pen & Ink of President Obama

November elections, 2010, deserve to reflect confidence in President Obama and the Dems. With the stock market in ascent and the Bush era tailspin arrested, continued affects of the protracted war in the mideast cannot be attributed to current administration. "Keep the Faith!" Support our President and his plans.

Frida in a Blue Robe

Iconography, conning nobody, F--K, can't wait. Most deserving for suffering and painting anyway, for maintaining a life long love for Diego Rivera, the muralist, Frida--Kahlo in a blue robe surrounded by paper roses will appear on the river in a flying saucer (at the Rio Cafe, more like), Astoria, Oregon, in October. portrait painted on paper by B M Martin

As Summer Ends...

Here we are in Astoria, OR on the Columbia River. the weather is wonderful. Indian Summer is upon us, the first week in September. Hurricane Earl is moving away from the Atlantic coast. The Rio Cafe in Astoria near 9th and Astor had a great summer and is receiving rave reviews all the way from Portland. Travelosity is giving them a 4* plus rating. And my paintings continue to grace the south wall of the Cafe. Please drop by for great Mexican cuisine.

water color, "Pier 11", by Barbara Martin

More to Read identification on Art

An "artist" is open to the planet as a whole, the many nations, the variety of races.

When the public feels inadequate, it is a commentary on the degre of focus necessary to walk a daily line. The open-ness is exactly what the public, those that are not there to cop a lick, is in a museum or gallery to find, not the cork in a hole in space, in the universe. (watercolor: Ilwaco Marina, BMM)

Dancer at Rest

Long Beach peninsula artist, Varytin, as portrayed by Barbara Martin, reclining in her heavily encrusted fringed bellydance costume can be seen dancing at Astoria's Sunday Market throughout the summer! The gorgeous Varytin is without a doubt a beautiful person, talented dancer and instructor! (Click on Acrylic painting of 'Dancer at Rest' or visit Myartspace/Gallery Barbara Martin)