Jane Martin is one of those artists who reminds us how exciting visual art can be when it's about 'looking' and 'seeing'. Art exhibitions aren't so much about people viewing paintings as they are about painters looking at something simple; a garden, factory unit, tree or road perhaps, and seeing it in a unique manner then representing it as Art. By doing this Martin reminds us of the colour and beauty that is all around us in life, and fine art.
Martin treats her subjects and her craft with equal respect. Subjects are examined and painted from alternative perspectives, at various times of the day or in different weather conditions. For example, A Forest Growing in Spearwood involves three individual portraits of a single tree in the morning, at noon and late in the day, each on it's own panel and presented as one exhibit. The colour and light that floods through this work not only held my attention, it had me holding my breath. I found it difficult to turn away. When I did, the clarity of light and colour in the collection of blooms and leaves that make up Walker St. Garden, seemed to dance across the nine panels of the exhibit. These images reminded me of how most of us tend to focus on different parts of plants while walking through a garden and rarely see the presentation as a whole.
Travelling through the exhibition you realize how well the artist can manipulate a broad range of high key colours. Then, just because she can, Martin reveals her skill with a limited palette. The Dishes is a small study involving a silver tray, tin can, drinking glass and plastic container sitting in a dish drainer. This little painting not only reflects the artist's ability within the discipline of monochrome, it reveals how she is able to capture the surface qualities of metal, glass and plastic in paint. This image, along with other exhibits of domestic scenes and still life subjects, elevate those humble and mundane aspects of life to a level of significance that is worthy of being a subject in fine art.
Other seemingly banal scenes take on new significance in Martin's work. For example, Spearwood Factory Units and Spearwood Tilt-ups 1 pay homage to the 'industrial' aspects of suburban living. The square block, flat topped building in Factory Units is seen from a low point of view and the horizon disappears beneath the picture plane on the right. The structure stands as solid as an ancient temple against a turbulent sky, one that continues beyond the edge of the earth. Somehow that tall, thin power pole seemed to morph into a shaman with arms reaching up and calling to the gods beyond the clouds. Mesmerizing. Then Tilt-ups 1 brought me back to reality as it is a well grounded image. Here the repeated tilt of the pointed roofs, the slope of the grass, the wispy clouds, and with only the tops of the cars visible, the image reflects the sense of a busy working day. This is a well-constructed composition that implies movement without the viewer losing balance.
Of all these large and small, still life, domestic and landscape images, each with it's own mood and colour, it was the four small exhibits of the sea that delighted me most and increased my respect for the artist's talent. When looking at Down to the Sea, Along by the Sea, Into the Sea, and Three in the Sea grouped together on the wall, I could see a trip to the beach on a hot day to play in warm sand and cool water. I could almost feel the sun, hear the waves and smell the pink zinc.
If you're not one for having the wind in your hair or sand between the toes, walking in the garden or sitting around the house, then head to the gallery for a delightful experience of looking at, and seeing, good works of fine art.