1 art original : oil on canvasboard ; 50.2 cm. x 60.3 cm
Notes:
To view image click on "Access Content Now" above Dorothy Martin and her lifelong friend and fellow painter Ruth Pawson often painted together, taking daytrips to explore the prairie countryside near Regina, and to paint out in the landscape. In this oil painting Martin depicts a row of bare poplar trees in the springtime. As the title, “Lacy Screen” suggests, the delicate entanglement of the tree branches forms a screen through which we can see the puddles in the fields behind the shelter belt. Martin uses light, smooth brush strokes that imply a softness and flexibility in the tree branches. Her use of bright colour and her textured brush marks are reminiscent of Impressionism (a late 19th century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, vivid colours, and an emphasis on the effects of light). Martin’s paintings serve both as a collection of the many sights across the prairies, 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)
