Bill Martin - A World Transformed

A World Transformed/Bill Martin and the Transformatives
©2002 by Debora Hill
MedioCom
Categories: Art; California

Landscapes so accurate in detail that it seems impossible for the human hand to have executed them are the hallmarks of Bill Martin's work. The canvas is often stretched in a half or full circular shape which adds to the `other-world' quality of his oil paintings. Despite this surreal quality, we've decided to place him among the transformatives. He takes the commonplace of sand, stone, hedge, or sea and transforms them into something rare. 
As real and rich in particulars as Martin's work is, it's impossible not to know that much of it doesn't exist in the here and now, and is definitely his vision of the inner reality behind the forms of nature. Or so I believe. Martin is purposely not too forthcoming on the subject.
"I would like to alter the lives of the viewers, open their perception, lead them to new thoughts, and expand their horizons. I don't feel it is necessary for the viewer to understand my symbolism. I think that if there is one story in a painting that then the structure is present for other, perhaps more pertinent, stories for the viewer. Sometimes there are very surprising interpretations."
My personal reaction to his paintings is that I want to see a little more. Surely another painting will ease the aching emotion I feel as I stand before his work. Another look and I'll see beyond the horizon and into myself, or Bill Martin. In my opinion it's the ungraspable that gives his work such a polyglot allure.
"My work appears to appeal to all types of people. I had a print in an art store. The proprietor told me that leather jacketed Harley Davidson riders were fascinated by my work as often and as much as grey haired septuagenarians. And, I am very heartened by the fact that teenagers still relate to my images. I attempt to address the universal subconscious with new archetypes in my imagery. The popularity of any one image is due to the degree to which I am successful in this attempt."
Popularity, in the world of art as elsewhere, is a slippery creature and Martin is obviously aware of this. "Other paintings are popular in relation to who is seeing them. I think that one of the reasons artists paint more than one image is that each one speaks to a different group of people. So it could be that a particular work could be seen by more people and thus receive a disproportionate amount of attention (Seashell). Or it could come at the right time to express a current sociological predilection (Garden of Life). Conversely it could be unpopular because it contains images, like snakes, that make people uncomfortable (Butterflies)."
When asked about stylistic fashions in art, his answer is obvious in his work. Martin's work has certainly grown and changed over the years, but he clearly does just as he likes.
"I don't concern myself with trends of popular taste. I seem to have these paintings to paint and I will paint them regardless of the response they generate. As long as I am able to create, I am content. There is only the present. The past is only shadows of memory. Today is the best. The work I do today is always my most successful. I am at the constant apex of my career.
"My style seems to have always been with me. As I look back to my earliest paintings, I can see hints of what I do today. There are even images that, in different forms, have reoccurred from the beginning."
One image that is certainly in constant evidence in his work is the spiral. When we asked if it had to do with infinity or the Earth Mother/Goddess, Martin showed his usual affability about other peoples interpretations of his work. "The spiral for me symbolizes growth and the beginnings of things. But here again I would not be upset if for someone else these images evoked a Goddess. One meaning sets the stage for other meanings."
He has a bachelor of Fine Arts, and Master of Fine Arts degrees from the San Francisco Art Institute. He attended, like so many of the Art Institute crowd we have interviewed, at a time when most of the teachers were Abstract Expressionists. It is interesting that he and the others felt determined to pursue their own visions, despite the influences from the previous generation of artists. The atmosphere at the Institute doesn't seem to have inhibited many of the students. 
Like so may of the other artists in this book, Martin has done cards, posters, prints, book and magazine illustrations, workshops, college and university teaching, set design and his own illustrated fiction. He has done these things in various media and, when asked what his favorite media was, had something to say about the influence of the media on the work.
"Oils are my first choice of media for their versatility. But, I work in all media. I've never met a media I couldn't use. Interestingly the media influences the imagery. Oils produce imagined realities, Gouaches produce literal recordings of direct observations, bronze seems to bring out figurative works with a sense of humor, and Watercolor creates an impressionist reality."
What about those circle and half circle canvases? What kind of reality do they create? "I chose the half circular format because I wanted to create a vaster space. The circular format is always intimate involving elaborate foregrounds. The half circle gives me the feeling of looking great distances. I have always seen the sky as a dome or half circle so I did a whole series of half-round paintings about the sky.
"Nothing is permanent. I could change again tomorrow."
With all this change, what would his personal favorite of his own workmanship be? "The most recent is always my favorite. Perhaps because it is like a newborn child and needs the most attention. It is the most vulnerable, and represents my most current thought."
Bill Martin's favorite book, Lost Legends, was published in October, 1995 by Pomegranate Books and is still available at his website. Containing 85 full-color reproductions of his oil paintings, some never before published, it is available for $30.00. Each painting contains a story of how Bill was inspired to paint it. About the book, he says,
"My favorite book is finally published. Titled Lost Legends, it has been years in the making. It contains many of my favorite oil paintings; half have never been published before. Each image is accompanied by a legend or story it inspired. Hear how the earth was formed, how we can see through time, or how color was given to water. You may feel echoes of your own subconscious dream images in this book."
To see more of Bill Martin's artwork and write-ups about his books, visit his website: www.BillMartinGallery.com. To send him an e-mail message, write to: info@BillMartinGallery.com

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