1 art original : oil on panelboard ; 43 cm x 63 cm
Notes:
To view image click on "Access Content Now" above In this quiet prairie scene, soft clouds float across the pale blue sky while the land below is bathed in sunlight. The title of this oil painting is “The Prairie Wind Blows” and a breeze seems to gently sway the tall weeds in the foreground. Dorothy Martin’s use of bright colours and textural marks is reminiscent of Impressionism, the late 19th century art movement which used visible brush strokes and vivid colours to portray the effects of light. Like many Impressionists, Martin painted “en plein air”, out in the landscape. Martin lived in Regina for most of her life, and often depicted locations that were within a short drive of the city, taking daytrips to explore and to paint the countryside with her lifelong friend and fellow painter Ruth Pawson. Martin’s paintings serve both as a document of the prairies in the mid-twentieth century, and as “pictorial poems in praise of the land” (The Leader Post). Dorothy Martin (1909-1984) was born in St. Peters, Nova Scotia, before moving to Regina in 1913. She spent the majority of her life in Saskatchewan, combining her love of art with teaching. She earned her teaching certificate at the Teacher’s College, Regina Normal School (1927). She studied visuals arts at the University of Regina (formerly Regina College), mentoring under Augustus Kenderdine (1938-39) and Kenneth Lochhead (1961-62). Martin studied arts education (1962) at the Teacher’s College in Regina, and at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis (1964). Returning to Regina, Martin further studied primary art education, and ceramics with Jack Sures (1966-67). Martin worked on the Board of Education as an arts consultant in Regina (1963-1969) until her retirement. She continued to teach studio classes: ceramic and clay at the Hone-James Studio (1969-72) and adult painting at Fort San (1973-75). She passed away in 1984, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. During her lifetime, Martin exhibited artwork provincially; her work is held internationally in private and public collections, including the permanent collections of the Saskatchewan Arts Board, Regina Public School Board, Province of Saskatchewan, and Saskatchewan House (located in London, England)
