ABOUT HELEN MARTIN
Helen grew up in Santa Cruz County, California and her mother always said she could tell what was going through Helen’s by the scraps of paper she found all over the house – brides, babies, horses, dress designs and house plans. Art classes in junior high and high school-produced posters, prom bids, cartoons for the school paper and the giant Willie Wildcat head that the football team ran through at every home game.
Never one to be happy with just one medium, Helen went on to take lots of drawing and painting classes through various Community College and Adult Ed programs. As a result, she’s painted everything from tiny greeting cards to a ginormous sun face with exterior house paint to silkscreening custom t-shirts. Her current canvas (aka home) has a palm tree on the bathroom wall and a “rock” backsplash in the kitchen.
Helen has traveled extensively and took photographs and scribbled madly. It was all great fun and her head is full of fabulous sights and wonderful memories.
Living at the base of the Pinenut Mountains east of Gardnerville, Nevada on an old homestead has given Helen the opportunity to absorb the scents and light of this sage-covered landscape. She tries to get it down on paper and it’s often just little scenes that catch her eye while out on a back road.
Helen is currently a member of the Carson Valley Art Association. It’s been good fun working with the other members on the shows and committees and she’s had the chance to meet some wonderful people and which is one of the reasons she feels that she’s become a part of the community even after living here only a relatively short time. She’s visited the Carson Valley for decades and is now so glad to call it home.
gadZooks! 