Martin was born in Neath in 1963, where he still lives and works. He has been painting full-time for over 20 years and has regular shows in London as well as with us at Ffin y Parc.
In his new collection for us, he has painted mostly North Wales scenes. Using his palette knife to propel and shape the paint, he effortlessly conveys the rugged wildness of the landscape in all its strength and changeability.
Often, his agitated skies arch over the land and sea beneath, chopped and fractured by wind and clouds, or stretch lethargic ally, smeared with traces of light. The sea reflects the sky, and the mountains rear up, or else hunker down, folding in on themselves. His buildings, follow the land's contours. They cower and sag, becoming part of the landscape themselves.
The vigour of Martin's approach and the immediacy with which he captures what he sees, gives rise to work which is powerful and persuasive. Everything is alive, throbbing with a kind of essential internal energy! He catches the thrill of being alone in a landscape that is both familiar and dangerous to us.