I am an abstract painter in the Comox Valley, my home since retiring in 2015. I started painting in the 90’s when my children were young. Later on, art became my solace as I headed into the home stretch of a long career as a family physician. Creating soon became a full time passion, as COVID and a health crisis worked together to intensify my dive into painting. I found a local supportive art community in the Comox Valley.
As an abstract artist I paint with acrylic and various mixed media. Colour and texture are the language of my work. I work in layers, use collage and markmaking tools then add and subtract, scraping away what’s not longer needed until the balance I’m looking for is achieved. I may start out with a concept or an investigation, but where it leads arises from the work itself: a realisation that the painting directs as I work.
My process has evolved over the last few years, with less recognisable landscape and more surprise as I paint. Often figures and other images come up unexpectedly and lead me somewhere I wasn’t intending to go. I notice in what comes out on the canvas that I am influenced both by the landscape and by my emotions. My work shows the hiding and the reveal.
I am grateful to be able to hear the eagles and barking sea lions from my studio looking out over Kin Beach. My art education has come about both through experience and by attending classes and workshops. My work has been shown at both juried and community shows on Vancouver Island and is in private collections in BC and across Canada.
‘I increasingly find that my art comes from the core that defines me and tells of my interior landscape. Often images comes up unexpectedly and lead me to a place I didn’t plan to go. I believe that artists help make the world a more colourful and complex place by clarifying our vision. Images can be layered in complexity to then be seen and interpreted with a personal filter. I believe people see what they need to see; and that enriches their world. I share my work to bring joy and beauty to others and to let them see…the me inside.’
Please contact me at laurie@lauriemartz.ca, I’d love to hear from you and would welcome you on a studio tour.
you can see my work on Instagram @Lauriemartzart
and on my website https://www.lauriemartz.ca
I respectfully acknowledge that the land we gather on is on the Unceded Traditional Territory of the K’ómoks First Nation, the traditional keepers of this land
