Into the Artist's World with Molly Martin
This month i wanted to introduce you to artist Molly Martin. Molly and i met eight years ago, she had just moved to London and as well as starting her career as an artist, she was my son Marlow’s, nanny. A lovely friendship was born. Six years later, we set STILL up together. Since working with me she has completed her MA in Fine Arts at City and Guilds.
I commissioned Molly to make two new drawings for the STILL Print shop which are now available to buy as A4 prints.
I chatted to Molly about her work, art practice and becoming a mother.
Enjoy…..
What are you reading at the moment?
‘Nobody Told Me’ by Holly McNish (off and on in moments)
Are you a podcast listener or music whilst you work? Or perhaps you prefer silence? Anything you’ve loved listening to recently?
Often nothing. But I recently bought a cd player for my studio. I wanted to stop using my phone for Spotify - as it distracted me as soon as I picked it up! I buy c.ds from charity shops. Current on going faves are a couple of Miles Davis compilations, Gurshwin and Duke Ellington.
When are you most creative? A certain time of day? Year?
The early morning. If I had a home studio I would be in there at 7am with my first cup of tea of the day. My brain seems to be at its clearest creatively - and I feel at my most
open conceptually. However, my mind gives up completely around 3pm (the worst time of the day for me! It’s a weird in between time!). In reality though, due to a little commute to the studio - I often get in around 10ish and play catch up until the end of the day!
List 5 of your top favourite artists/makers/designers.
Pierre Bonnard
Aloise Corbaz
Tracey Emin (love the way she talks about her work)
Philip Guston
Louise Bourgeois
If you had to choose between Charleston House and Kettle’s Yard, which would you choose and why?
Charleston! I adore Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and I long to paint all my furniture one day in the same way. I love the muted dusty colours that have faded over time. Kettles Yard is very beautiful but feels more like a very well curated gallery. Charleston is far more homely!
What is your favourite medium to work in and why?
Oil paint is limitless in its abilities and it has a certain quality that for me is unmatched. I work fairly quickly with my works and enjoy leaving painterly marks on the canvas (or board). I tend to thin my paints down a lot with linseed or walnut oil - which creates a slippery effect. This is important to me as a lot of my work looks at fleeting moments from memories - which feel hazy and intangible and therefore the medium I work in is sympathetic to the subject matter.
Tell me about a time when you were creatively stuck. Why and how did you get out of it?
If I’m ever at a loss creatively, I head to The National Gallery and do some drawing. Working from the masters is a wonderful way of reconnecting with drawing as a simple practice. I try and focus on mark making and recording what’s in front of me while collecting different ideas and themes which might help me later on in the studio.
How has becoming a mother changed your art practise?
My baby is currently 5 months old and I haven’t been at the studio as much as I’d hoped! Instead, I have been slowly making little notes or drawings at home in stolen moments. He sleeps in the sling for his morning nap, so I have to draw standing up at the breakfast bar with the radio turned up and the extractor fan on! I keep my pastels and papers stacked in the corner so I can quickly grab them when the opportunity strikes! I am often interrupted or forced to stop and prioritise other jobs and it can feel frustrating sometimes but I am taking comfort in the knowledge that this time will be over before I know it. I can’t have my first born baby twice! Whereas art will aways be there waiting for me when I’m ready to return to it properly! This series for Still Flower Drawing are taken from stolen moments at the kitchen table - drawing whatever is in front of me that day - with my baby sleeping on me as I draw.
