Martha will be the gallery’s featured artist for the “Tenth Annual Historic Canyon Road Paint Out” on October 21st from 10 to 3 pm. Over 100 artists will participate in this not-to-be missed outdoor event that stretches the length of historic Canyon Road. The annual paint out continues a tradition of painting “en plein air” that began a century ago on this great American road.
Martha has lived in New Mexico and Colorado where the weather and seasonal conditions create dramatic and changing effects on the mountains, valleys and mesas. “The most familiar of landmarks, wherever you are, take on different elements that can be fleeting and you only see that one time. It’s fun to discover these moments and use them as inspiration for my paintings,” says Mans.
“The painting process has been an evolving experience for me from the time I was very young and first started painting in oil until now. Each stage had to be experienced and has led to a deeper understanding of what my expression in paint is all about. Painting traditional realism with good design as an important element was where I began.”
“Now, the evolution of my painting process has brought me to a point in which the subject, the texture of the oil medium and the physical application of the brushstrokes have become profoundly intertwined. All are so necessary to the finished work that if one were to be taken away the work would be left incomplete.”
Martha Mans is a master instructor at the Art Students League in Colorado Springs and a guest instructor, lecturer and juror for art groups and museums throughout the United States and abroad. She is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies and the New Mexico Watercolor Society.