Out of the Gutter Art

Category: concrete art

  • Many Moons: A New One Rises

    Many Moons: A New One Rises

    Sailor’s Delight, c. STMartin2016
    Blue Sorrow, c.STMartin2016
    Discontent, c.STMartin2016
    Revelation on the Drive #2, c.STMartin2016
    There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise, all images ©STMartin

    Hold on Tight

    This Artist is changeable, like the wind. I dance from one canvas to the next, one substrate to the next in an endless flow of ideas. To stop the flow of creativity is to stop my heart from beating. My Art from beating.

    The Mania GROWS!
    “100 Must-Have Looks”(detail)
    A JOYFUL SOLD CRAB !
    Plant Lady is Ticked!Painted Tart Pan©STMartin2018
    I love Finding these in thrift shops and yard sales, and making them rise from the ashes as new art!
    Mania Illuminata
    Mania Illuminata, sold
    Spring Hearts Jello Mold
    “Mania Illuminata” sold
    KODAK Digital Still Camera
    KODAK Digital Still Camera
    KODAK Digital Still Camera
    Many of My 3-D works from the past 6 Years…All works and images ©STMartin
    A Flashback!
    A Found Concrete Block!
    Munson, a treasured friend, mixed media by s.t. martin
    Stockings,Grocery Bags, Palm Fronds, An Ironing Board!
    Another Cement Block Creation!
    Early 3-D OUTPOURINGS ©STMartin

    Being bipolar causes duality of purpose in me, and in my work. SIMULTANEOUS urgings: High, Low, Sideways, Backwards; Round. And yet , somehow, a cohesive whole is made.

    I AM STRONG TODAY. I AM FREE OF THE BAGGAGE OF MY PAST TODAY.

    I RUN UNDER A SAILING SKY, WILD-EYED and BREATHLESS… there IS a way forward for me… I WILL FIND IT. MY ARTISTIC VISION WILL NOT BE DENIED. I AM GOING TO MAKE PUBLIC RECYCLED METAL SCULPTURE. IT WILL BE IN PARKS AND GARDENS, IT WILL CELEBRATE THIS GLORIOUS ACT OF LIVING.

    Back when I was a semi-pro pool player I had a mantra, because I was a clinch player. I came back when I was down, and that can demoralize an opponent, when you can beat them. But it wasn’t about that, not for me. It was staying in the game, never quitting, never saying ‘die’.

    This quote has been attributed to many, so I will attribute it to an anonymous kindred spirit:

    “It’s not the dog in the fight; It’s the fight in the dog.”

    I have tried to associate myself with the local metal sculptors here in St. Pete, I have offered my labor free, begged for apprenticeships, offered to be the coffee runner, the shop cleaner, the grinder… I’ve been here 4 years now, and I feel choked and thwarted.

    I know I’m older, I know I’m a woman, I know I’ve got marks against me as someone with “disabilities”. BUT I’M STILL HERE, AND MY VOICE WILL BE HEARD. What I have to contribute HAS VALUE! I can work most men under the table, even in the shape I’m in. (Ok, I could work my ex-husband under the table, which isn’t sayin’ much cause he was usually loaded!! But I AM a very hard worker…)

    I’m strong as an OX and twice as GOOD LOOKING!!

    So, while I have been quietly seething here in Pine Bay, creating my works on canvas, on board, on paper…. Painting my recycled furniture and selling cute little cat pictures…. THERE is a SHE -TIGER here in this cage…and I have found a way out.

    I am NOT giving up, I am not going anywhere, and I’m certainly NOT GOING QUIETLY!

    So, whether you see me shooting across the sky on the back of a winged Andalusian Stallion, dashing past you in my ‘souped up’ Kia Soul, or building a mind-boggling , solar powered work in a local park, be forewarned…

    THIS OLD DOG HAS A LOT OF FIGHT LEFT…

  • RESOLVING THE COMMISSION DILEMMA

    RESOLVING THE COMMISSION DILEMMA

    Stuck in the Barnyard

    “OLD McDONALD HAD A COMMISSION…Oh no, Oh no, Oh no……”

    The First Draft of “The Dreaded Barnyard”
    One of my Trippy Palm Frond Creations

    So, I had a “Patron”, and I am envisioning a relationship similar to Michaelangelo had with The Pope.. Endless coffers, freedom of expression in my own magnificent style, expensive dining and and more and more projects to work on. What a dream come true! I even mentioned to this kind person and lover of my art that I would give her privledged pricing on all future projects! Why not, right? I was on the gravy train from here on out, the best brushes, high quality paints…maybe marble or a bronze sculpture…or a glorious garden full of exquisite welded work! Ah, I basked in the glow of this fantasy, every artist’s dream!

    THE BIRDHOUSE RACKET

    Don’t get me wrong, I like money…I don’t yearn for riches like some do, which is a good thing because I would spend my life disappointed, but I do like to earn money. It validates the work I do, and it also buys good hot cocoa. So, every now and then, when I want to market my work directly, and it’s not stuff I want “too much” for; I resort to online marketplaces. To make a quick buck I’ve been known to paint palm fronds with funny animal faces for people to stick out in their gardens, and I’ve turned a quick buck…or twenty. In the recent past I painted and sold four or five birdhouses that I knocked out pretty quick, and sold them on Facebook marketplace…I was pleasantly surprised at how they were snapped up. “woohoo” ten bucks here, fifteen there…

    I know what you think…you think I am ungrateful. That anyone with a talent like this that can make a dollar should not scoff at that ability. Believe me I am SO grateful. That’s not the issue. I made the choice to undersell, just to get that dough in my hand fast, I know that. Let me finish…

    So, off I go (one day last month) to meet a customer for a sale. For good measure I loaded up a bunch of do-dads I had accumulated, thinking I might do some “suggestion selling” (Thank You Business Certificate). To my delighted surprise the person did buy more than one item! Not only that, they asked for more! I was tickled, really. So tickled, in fact, that I wrote a post about my new found angle on artistic marketing success! I rushed home to make more, but decided on a nap instead…

    (more…)
  • The Cathouse

    The Cathouse

    Munson, A Treasured Friend assemblage on Carved Sculpture by Susan T. Martin, in The Art on The Island 3-D Art Show

    Been trapping feral kitties this weekend…but not to kill them. Yay! I’ve been working with a nonprofit called Meow Now, which I believe has chapters nationwide. They catch, neuter/spay , vaccinate and bring back the cats. This then allows the colony to live a healthy life and controls the population of feral cats… An established colony deters more cats from moving in also. I had counted 11 ferals on our street, we caught 9 so far… I’ve not been able to get much done in the way of work for a couple days… Will have to hit it hard to have some works ready for the Holiday Show and Sale downtown at The Morean Arts Center… I’ll be back with some new stuff SOON!!!

    • Free Now George, A Mixed Media Digital Work by STMartin2016
    • Munson, a Treasured Friend, mixed media sculpture, Award of Merit, Best of the Best Show at the A.E. Backus Museum, Susan T. Martin 2015

  • Free My Mind for You/ Free Your Mind for Me

    As it should be, so it shall be. Inside myself I am whole, where I am not broken. I am lonely in a great big crowd, but never alone when I am here. Do you feel the radio waves frying our brains? Or is that just those pickles I ate.? Let’s go with the pickles, the other is too tough to contemplate.

    “Last Antelope Hunt”, Mixed Media on Board 8″x10″unframed ©Susan T. Martin2020
  • Yellow Belly.

    Yellow Belly.

    Red Jello. Green jellybeans…Green-Eyed Greedy Gut: runs around eating the whole world up.

    Red Beans and Rice. Red Eye Gravy. Red Bone Coon Hound,

    Yellow Rice. Condaleeza Rice. Yellow-bellied Sap Sucker. Red Robin. Red Skin Potatoes.

    Green Godess. Long Island Iced Tea. Rum. Lots and lots of Rum.

    Brown Gravy, Brown Eyed Girl…Skin Browned by the Sun. Skin.

    Smooth Skin, Tanned Skin, Supple Skin. Skin Head

    Random Words, Targeted Pain. Lasting Pain, Throbbing, Stabbing, Burning, Achy , Dull, Acute Pain.

    Red Yellow Green and Brown Pain. White Pain. My pain.

  • IN the DOGHOUSE

    IN the DOGHOUSE

    • MUNSON, embellished cement sculpture, (Award of Merit at Best of the Best Show at A.E.BACKUS MUSEUM2014)©Susan T Martin(Inquiries Welcome)
    • DOOR STOP or START? recycled Concrete Block©Susan T. Martin 2014(sold)
    • SELF PORTRAIT, (detail) ©Susan T. Martin2019(Inquiries Welcome)
    BLOCKY the ROCK HOUND, work in progress, Concrete Block and Rocks©STM

    Sigh… I’ve been feeling crappy… Really Awful… SICK. It has caused a pause in my production of work. There is this niggling worry, of course, about the big C, CO I mean…VID. I don’t believe this is it, am hoping very strongly that this is not it. The headache is from a sinus infection that seems to always correspond to this changing season. So, I have been fighting, on this front, for about a week.

    • Screen Siren
    • Kiko-Man!
    • Baby Klee
    • Commissioned Portrait
    • Commissioned Portait
    • Don’t touch my hat!
    • Kleopatra of the Nile, my big nose Baby…
    • coooooookkkie!!
    • Aiko Xoxo Izabella, Dear Heart, best Mom ever…
    THE DOG HOUSE GALLERY ©Susan T. Martin

    I rely so much on my little Kleo as a huggable, furry sounding board , having recently experienced the grief of losing her uncle Kiko last month. She became violently ill yesterday, and had to be rushed to the astronomically expensive emergency vet. Five hundred plus dollars and a day later she is stabilized, but I’m not sure I am. The running total on all my credit cards is the highest I’ve ever had, and the gallery I use has been virtual for months. Sales are nil for now, so I feel pressured to create a masterpiece . But I keep falling asleep with my paintbrush for my hand, and abstract ain’t my bag at the moment. Perhaps it should be. I could, in my stupor, lay a blank canvas on the floor by my couch and hold an open paint jar over it while I doze. Perhaps some nice swirly “pour”will result…( This is a JOKE. )

    • FIRE, BLOOD, SKY, WATER, 2nd Version ©Susan T Martin2009
    • The Guardian, acrylic on board,© Susan T. Martin 2016(donated)
    • Grouchy Grouper, Palm Frond and Pine Cone Fine Art©Susan T Martin2014
    • UNDERCURRENTS, ©Susan T. Martin2014
    • RUNNER THE CLOTHES HORSE-recycled Ironing Board, Couture Gown, Palm Fronds , Nylon Pantyhose, Grocery Store Bags, Feather Boas, Curtain Rods, Old Yarn over Chicken Wire Cage, NFS
    • GEORGE,©Susan T Martin (Inquiry Welcome)
    • COUNTRY CLUB STABLES, PINE CHEST (detail) ©Susan T Martin(inquiry Welcome)
    • NEVOA, 3rd Version©Susan T Martin 2011
    • Mural in Progress 2016©SusanTMartin
    • Intergallactic Dragonfly, mixed media sculpture©Susan T. Martin 2016,(sold)
    • THE MUTANT FROG BOX(detail)©SusanTMartin(sold)
    • The MUTANT FROG BOX, recycled vintage tool box ©SusanTMartin(sold)
    • ONE FISH TWO FISH RED FISH BLUE FISH, fine art Print©Susan T Martin(Inquiry Welcome)
    • FISH OF A DIFFERENT FEATHER “Outrageous Jello Mold” ©Susan T. Martin(sold)
    • ROUND UP, Palm Frond Art, ©Susan T. Martin, in progress
    • DANCE of ANDALUSIA,©Susan T. Martin2018
    • Babs the Crab©Susan T. Martin2018(sold)
    • Riley, Palm Frond Assemblage©Susan T. Martin2019(sold)
    • DANCE of the ANDLUSIAN fine art print©Susan T. Martin2018(Inquiries Welcome)
    • NEVOA, 4th Version©Susan T. Martin
    THE ANIMAL HOUSE GALLERY Animal Art from 2010-2020©Susan T. Martin

    The day before my illness I painted a new canvas, and I feel very pleased with it, even though my freehand jug is rather “interesting”. I do have more works in progress , soon to come to fruition as Kleo Pup and I mend. Yay. I mean, “YAY!!”

  • In My Room

    In My Room

    “Sleep to Dream a Dreamer’s Sleep…Let the Midnight Watchman Creep…”
    A step into a past full of Victorian Charm, all furniture and walls handpainted and restored…by me.

    your home is your place to dream, to find peace and rest. A cocoon, a safe haven, an island in the storm… a place to create, to define, to highlight who you really are-in your own space. Welcome to mine…

    I always lived with others, my family, my husband, friends… I expressed my own style in little flourishes, here and there. Once I got my own home, that I truly own, and no one else shares it with me….now I’ve been free to create my own space. Painting anything, be it wall, floor, furniture or canvas; at any time of day, in any colors, in any style!! There are days I sit here, depressed and immobilized. Then I remember to look around and be so, so grateful…

  • The Door is Wide Open

    The Door is Wide Open

    There are ideas percolating just beneath the surface of my consciousness. They are not fully fleshed out but the juices are flowing and I feel “on the verge” of a breakout work. What is a ‘breakout work’ you ask? Well, I’m asking too, and I believe there is a new direction coming.

    ideas under construction…

    I have been cleaning and gardening and remodeling while the first flickers have steadily growing in size, ready to flame up when the fully formed idea strikes. So I’m just stoking the fire now, setting my mind free to dream in big color…

    my garden calls me , more and more…and I’ve been gathering beloved and beautiful finds and setting them behind the house while this “thing” fleshes out. And it will.

    Oh, yes. It will…