Seated Nude – New Drawing

seated_nude_lily_mae_martin

Seated Nude
By Lily Mae Martin
105 x 75cm
Ink on paper
2016

It may seem a little haphazard, the way I work. My last finished piece that I posted here was a landscape..

WaterlooForestfinal_lily_mae_martin

…which took me several months to draw ) but I assure you there is a method to the madness!
Sort of.

Such a relief it was, going back to working on the body. I’m trying to work out ways of combining the two – but I am not quite there yet. Though I have heaps of ideas and I am super excited.

Though I love this drawing –

under_skin_under_earth_lily_mae_martin
– my girl in a cave, it was an experiment – I don’t think it quite achieved It. ( Whatever It is, I’m still trying to work that out .. )

This worked –

Morning Song, ink on paper, 76 x 56cm , 2016

Morning Song, ink on paper, 76 x 56cm , 2016

But I am not sure how to make that a series. That’s ok, I still got some nudes to draw in their negative space and some landscapes without figures to finish and then, hopefully, I have worked out a little bit more in my head and with my hands what it is that I am making.

Still, looking through this post alone with the drawings I have made this year I cannot express to you how excited I am about making the new works and how proud I am of what I have already created. Not meaning to sound up myself or nothing – but if there’s no joy in what you do then what’s the point.

My back aches and the nude is fresh off of the board. Time for a tea and some sleep.

New drawing – Waterloo State Forest, view from the back

WaterlooForestfinal_lily_mae_martin

Waterloo State Forest, view from the back
Lily Mae Martin
105 x 75cm
Ink on Paper

Waterloo State Forest, view from the back is an exploration of death and grief through the peripheral. Much of my work focuses on the intimate details of the human body, but watching a loved one die can complicate that work. Death is the process of the body shutting down, and documenting that isn’t always possible or right. Waterloo is the documentary of a life passing, and of the lives around it changing, as it is experienced through the landscape: a hushed forest, pitted with mineshafts; the perpetual shifting of light and shadow; the symbiosis of regrowth and decay.

Under Skin, Under Earth – A Tribute

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Under Skin, Under Earth. Ink on paper, 56 x 76cm , 2016

My Grandmother died a few days before I finished this drawing, it has been so hard to finish.

This begun as an experiment, which is the best part of not having a deadline – experimentation. I want to find ways to explore mortality – all the life and death lessons I have experienced over the last couple of years. I thought I would write about them – but that doesn’t feel like the right to do for me.

I’ve tried drawing people’s objects and painting still lives of flowers, while they were fun to do, they were not enough. I’ve been road tripping and sitting and reading and sketching and photographing and I get inklings of things and then I moved towards other things. I’ll get there, I’ll find it.

When I was a teenager, I spoke to Grandmother on the phone and she had asked me about my drawing. She always asked me about my drawing. When I told her I wasn’t doing that anymore she told me that I was being silly/ stupid/ ridiculous – one of those words, all of which I was deserving. I was such an angry teenager and was putting all that anger into being destructive towards myself instead of being constructive. Anyway, she said I was being silly/ stupid/ ridiculous – that I have a gift. I shouldn’t waste it.

So I’ve been trying not to waste it. I’ve had busy hands for a number of years now. In my early twenties I was making toys, she showed me how to make a simply teddy out of felt. I made a pirate one and Grandma examined it, said I was clever but I make repulsive things. I was really proud.I’ve been trying to make things that I think she would be interested in, my art has run the gamut of angst to art school to hyper sexualized to general interest and exploration of body to telling life stories. The kind of stories that Grandma’s would be interested in. It pains me that when our minds and experience become so rich, our bodies begin to age and fail.

Grandma passed away on Monday evening, I looked up the clock face of the Melbourne Town Hall around the time she left. When I got the texts and the calls and found out what time I remember this moment.. I wonder of it is connected. But maybe that’s just what we all do, try to find meaning in things and maybe there isn’t any meaning.

We are all so temporary. It’s heartbreaking.

Friday Evening – Domestic Scenes

fridayeve_lilymaemartin
A3
Ink on Khadi handmade paper
By Lily Mae Martin
2016

Statement about the work:

When my daughter was born I began to draw mostly interiors as I was at home more. I didn’t think much about the act at the time, as when you have babies and small children you have to live in the moment – there is every little time for reflection! But now that years have past I have come to see that these small sketches and drawings the spaces and things around us was a way of documenting our lives, like a journal only in pictures. It captures the everyday objects that surrounds us and shapes our days, but is also a window into the emotions I was feeling at the time.
I draw with pen and paper as this is very accessible to me, and also my daughter can use them to. I am inspired by etching techniques and replicate this within my drawings.

“I’ve never had a friend like you” – New Drawing

Ive_never_had_a_friend_like_you_lily_mae_martin

New drawing
“I’ve never had a friend like you” by Lily Mae Martin
75 x 105cm
Ink on paper
2015

For any sales of inquiries please contact Scott Livesey Galleries
SCOTT LIVESEY GALLERIES

909A HIGH STREET, ARMADALE
VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, 3143 T: +61 3 9824 7770
F: +61 3 9824 7771
E: INFO@SCOTTLIVESEYGALLERIES.COM

Emerging – new drawing

emerging_lily_mae_martin

Emerging
Lily Mae Martin
Ink on paper
2015
112 x 76cm

For any sales and enquiries, please contact Scott Livesey Galleries
SCOTT LIVESEY GALLERIES

909A HIGH STREET, ARMADALE

VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, 3143 T: +61 3 9824 7770

F: +61 3 9824 7771

E: INFO@SCOTTLIVESEYGALLERIES.COM

Have a wonderful weekend

xox