Fall in Love with the Charming Interiors and Still Lifes by Artist Martha Burkert of Maine and Texas

And today I have with me artist, Martha broker. Nice to have you here today. Thank you. Glad to be here. So it didn't take too much effort to get across the, uh, the Causeway from where you Live. Oh, I am just right on cousins island. Uh, not far from here. In fact, I walk this path almost every day. Yeah. I mean, it's a pretty beautiful part of the world. Isn't it? It really is. I split my time here, so every time I get up here, I'm just overwhelmed by the beauty each time it's like, it's new. It's wonderful. Okay. So If you split your time, where are you the rest of the time? Uh, Half the year. I'm in Dallas. And it's about as different as cousins island, Yarmouth, Maine, as you can find. And, um, I love it, but, um, I'm always glad to leave and get up here. So Tell me what is the Dallas connect? Uh, I Was actually raised there and, um, uh, have lived there on and off pretty much my whole life. Um, w my family moved up here full time in 94, and we spent over 10 years here and absolutely fell in love with it. And then when a job took my husband back to Dallas, um, I was still working up here a little bit and, um, kind of always had my eye on. Maybe we could get a little cottage and, um, when this, uh, little cottage came up on cousins island, I kinda jumped on it. And, um, we've been coming up here ever since, uh, as part-time residents. And where did you meet your husband? Is he also from Texas Or from Louisiana? From new Orleans. And, um, we met in college. I understand That you actually have a, an English degree. I do. I have an English degree from two lane. Um, I was planning to be an English teacher and that got a little bit derailed when I graduated and I was offered a job, uh, working for a company in new Orleans in human resources and jumped on that and did that for several years. So I've, I've had a couple of times that's really Interesting because you wouldn't necessarily put English major into human resources into artists. No, it's, it's a little bit of a weird, uh, path, but, um, you know, I don't think I would have ever become an artist. Had I not moved to Maine because I didn't start painting until I was 40. And I had, I had always, after I worked in human resources, I sort of transitioned it into more creative work, but I had never actually painted. And, um, I got up here and I thought, I don't know why I thought, but I thought I've got to paint this. And, but I don't know how to paint. So good friend of mine was an artist here in Yarmouth, and she told me that I needed to go to Maine college of art. And she told me who I needed to take painting from. And so I did, and it just grew after that. And I continued to take classes there, uh, for many years. Tell Me about the works that we have Behind us. Well, this, this is a piece that I did this spring and, um, it, it incorporates a lot of things that I love. And, um, I am a passionate amateur gardener, and I love the spring, uh, the trees that bloom here in Maine in the spring. And so I've always painted apple blossoms and whatever else was in bloom. And, um, but several years ago I started doing ceramics. And so I've incorporated ceramic pieces into my paintings that I've made. And, um, this is, uh, a pot that I it's, uh, it's not thrown. It's a hand-built pot that I made. And, um, I, uh, I changed the color, the actual color of things don't is not, I'm not a, a, a truly, truly representational artist. And, um, so I've, I changed the color of bit in it. And, um, and then the pink Stripe was an add on, because I was painting this the first day I got my COVID shot and I came home from getting my vaccination, and I was so overcome with joy that I said, I need a pink Stripe in that painting. And I think the name of the painting is pink Stripe with joy. I, um, I should know that, but, um, it certainly felt that way that day. So that's kind of the story of that. That's a really wonderful story. Thank you. It was, it was absolutely done after the fact. I mean, I was about 90% finished with a painting when I thought I need a little joy there. So I added it. And these blossoms, these must have, um, been some of the first blossoms of spring. I would think they were, Um, I planted in my yard a little Grove of crab, apple trees in Texas because they grow here. Also, they grow here a lot better, but I planted them. And so I'm able to clip these probably in February and March. So that's about the timeline on this painting. So it's really nice because I can, I can, um, paint, you know, spring blossoms there for a couple months, and then I come up here and I can do the same thing all over again. So I kind of get to two seasons of spring. Yes, You can kind of, you can follow the spring in this sort of Northeast fashion, Right? The only thing I can't do down there is get any fall color. That's not possible because there's not much, but, uh, but there are flowering trees. So I, I take advantage of them. Do you wait to leave To go back down there until after the fall is over? Um, every year is a little bit different just depending on what's going on. Um, and I'm kind of hit and miss, but I stay as long as I can. And, um, I love the fall it's inmate and I think it's absolutely wonderful. I just love it. So I try to stay through October if I can. Are you inspired by different things when you're in Dallas, as opposed to when you're here in Maine? I don't think So. I think my interest really over the years has evolved, um, into some pretty S not specific, but some things that I'm really interested in. I'm very interested in flowers and gardening and being outside while I'm doing that, obviously. And anything that goes along with that. And, um, so I've recently in the last couple of years have, um, started, uh, working on paper, which is something I'd never done before either. And I'll often, um, take a branch or a flower and just kind of lay it down and then paint that with a water based, uh, media. And, um, and so there's a lot of tr there's a lot of, um, similarity between, I mean, I've flattened the plane a lot. So I even in my, in my works on, on board or on canvas, so this is a very flattened plane. And I also do that on paper where it's completely flat, you know, where you're just like, you're looking down at it. And, um, I don't know why, but, um, flowers have always inspired me in the landscape. Um, and, and I also paint, uh, more traditional landscapes also, but, um, that's a theme that comes up over and over Where do the ceramics come in? Well, you know, I, when you are an artist and you work alone in your studio and I am, I am not a solitary person by nature, but I love my time in the studio. And I was really wanting, I was gravitating to doing something that I was doing something artistic, something creative, but I was around people. It's also something I knew nothing about. And, um, so I found a wonderful, uh, and also wanted something I could do during the winter. And, uh, when I was in Dallas with an artistic community, because really my artistic community is here in Maine. So I found a wonderful, um, studio, a pottery and started taking classes and loved it, just loved it. I really loved the craft element of it. The fact that, you know, you really, your hands had to lay on CRA clay for a certain amount of time before you understood what it was going to do. And I'm not saying I'm any good at all, but I love it. And, um, so I think it was just a desire to be around other artists and make things. Did you feel impacted By COVID because Of the kind of social isolation aspect of things, or were you already kind of isolated because of the work that you do now? Oh, I definitely did because, um, it, I spent more time in my studio that's for sure. And, um, but it, it has been wonderful to have this opening, to get out and be with friends again, and, you know, do that, do all the things that you get to do in Maine in the summer. Um, but I would say definitely I was impacted by it. I don't know that it actually translated to my work. Um, but definitely impacted. I notice in some of the work that you do, that you use a lot of, a lot of blues and in particular, you were interested in sharing a few different pieces and there was quite a bit of blue in the pieces that you were interested in sharing with us. So tell me about, tell me about some of these pieces that you think are most representative of yours art. Well, I I've selected two pieces, um, that, um, first of all, they're their main landscapes and of course that's a love of mine. Um, and as I've said, I'm not a particularly representational painter. I don't paint from photographs. Um, I will paint from a very small limited sketch. Um, I'm out sketching in the summer, and then I kind of take all that stuff back to Dallas in my studio, and I look at it and I think about it and I will translate that onto the canvas. Um, but, um, I think I selected these because one of the things I really love about Maine is the different seasons. And we have seasons in Dallas, but they're not as pronounced and life doesn't change all that much from season to season. We're in Maine, totally different things go on in every season, which I just love. And so, um, the first painting autumn to the island is of course, cousins island and, um, autumn that when everything turns, the trees turned red, but the ground turns gold and it's just wonderful. And I love it. And so that's what that painting came from. And then another thing that I love about being here, especially in the winter, which I don't get up here very often in the winter, but I try to get up at least once is when you live in a big city. Um, you never see the stars because there's just a pink glow above you all the time. And so I get up here and I'm absolutely overwhelmed by the stars. And so I had wanted to paint a painting that sort of, um, sort of brought that out. It's hard to paint paintings at night, um, uh, on location and I've only tried it a couple of times and it didn't go well. But, um, anyway, that was, that was just, uh, a feeling that I wanted to get the beautiful sky winter sky on canvas or board. And then the other two paintings that, um, I brought that I think are good representations are, um, dahlias from above. I'm a very amateur Dahlia grower and they're tough. And, um, so I sort of went on to memorialize that, that I'd had a little bit of success with it last summer. And, um, and then I'm always fascinated. I have one called dahlias from above and the other in the tall ones at dusk. And I'm always interested in how things look from down below how things look when it's darker, you know, just trying to find the very darkest I can make something and yet still make it vibrant. So that was kind of what that painting was trying to do. I'm smiling to myself because I use you use The word representational and then I use the word representational, but what I meant to say was representative, and it just reminds me that there's this whole other language around art that as someone who was an English major, there was, there's a whole language around English and around writing. And then you went into learning art and painting. How did you find that kind of transition and actually learning that language and learning to kind of understand some of the underpinning? Um, I, well, I do not have a formal art background in terms of, I wasn't, I never took an art history class in college, mainly because the book was so expensive and heavy. So clearly that was not a good plan. Uh, but I have always visited museums, been interested in art, you know, knew who painters were, you know, went into galleries did. And as I said, I did some creative work before. Um, I actually picked up a paint brush, but, um, as far as the language goes, it's a little intimidating when you first start. And I probably would have never thrown the word representational around because it wasn't really quite sure what it meant, but as I've sort of lived, it, it, I feel a little more comfortable kind of using language that I never thought would be in my vocabulary. Um, and you know, it, I hope I'm using it correctly. Well, as, As I'm talking with you, I always hope that I'm using language correctly when it comes to art. Because I think that there is for people who have been in art a long time and done a lot of education in art know, they can use words that just fly off the tongue and everybody understands exactly what they mean. And I have a beginner's mind when it comes to this, and I'm very excited to kind of soak up the knowledge, but I never pretend that I know all of the vocabulary at this point. So I wondered how you felt going into that whole, you know, taking classes at the Maine college of art. When they started throwing words around, I have To say my instructors, there were so supportive that, that, that they just want you to enjoy what you're doing, learn to paint. And it was never an intimidating. And also the students were very supportive. Most of them were about my age. So it wasn't w it was, it was, uh, I was not enrolled in the regular college. So they weren't college age students that we were painting with. We were painting with people that had always wanted to do it their whole life, and we're finally getting to do it. And it was wahoo. They loved it. So it was very supportive and it was a great place to, um, to learn to paint. That seems to be a theme that comes up a lot. I mean, there are people that, um, continue their art from the beginning. They know this is what they want to do. They keep doing it. It kind of evolves over time. And then there are people more like you that knew this was something they were interested in, but came back around to it. As you were waiting to come back around to it. How did you, how did your creativity manifest during those intervening years? Well, Um, I I've done, as I said, I've had a couple of careers. I was a location scout and a stylist, um, for mostly catalogs, um, for many years. And so I was around photographers and I was creating sets and figuring out how to make a product look really good. And, um, looking at houses in terms of, you know, can we shoot in here, what's this going to do? How are we going to do this? Um, so I had been around creative people and, um, and, and created myself. I mean, I had, you know, done the creative work, but, um, but it was different when, when I never showed my work or sold my work or, you know, had someone come in and, and decide whether they liked it or not. Well, no, that's not true. Cause that I did, that did happen obviously when I was, um, a location scout and stylists, but it was a different completely different thing. And, um, and that part kind of evolved sort of naturally. And it wasn't, uh, there was a small gallery in Yarmouth, the Thomas Spencer gallery that was very loyal to local artists. And that's where I had my very first show probably when I was about 41, I think so or 42, so that it, it happened pretty quickly and pretty naturally because, you know, I knew a lot of the people that came in, it was a very local, um, gallery. So that, that part of it was a little, my introduction to that was, was eased a little bit by being in Yarmouth As part of our off the wall interview with you and off the wall for people who are interested is the publication that we've created that essentially tells little stories about the artists with the Portland art gallery. You mentioned the artist Alfred Chadbourne. And I particularly enjoyed that reference because when I was quite young, I used to deliver a paper to, um, Alfred, but also his wife who ran a little daycare. And in fact, we lived across the street from them on church street. And I just knew them as this very friendly couple that, um, gave me a purse one Christmas for a tip for delivering their papers. Uh, and it wasn't until afterwards that I realized, I mean, he really was very well known and quite talented. So to have an artist of that caliber coming from Yarmouth is something. Absolutely. And I have to say one of the, the kind of big moments for me in terms of deciding to paint was I walked, uh, when we moved here, I walked up stairs in the Yarmouth library to the second floor and they have an, I'm not sure it's still there cause I haven't been up there in a few years, but, um, they had a gorgeous painting of his, that was a winter scene and I just about fell on my knees. It was so beautiful. And I thought, this is, this is something really special in the library. I had to know everything about them. And of course they had his book that he had written. So the library and told me that when I asked her about the painting and I checked it out and then of course I ended up buying the painting and then I ended up actually finding, uh, an older book that he had written on, on. It was, it was a guide on how to paint and I just devoured those two books. And what I loved about his artwork is first of all, he was a colorist, which I was very attracted to, but also he gave himself permission to leave things out and put things and probably not put things in, but leave things out. And it was probably that for me, was as big a lesson as anything because to me, you know, the main landscape is very complicated. It's very layered in, and you really, you might be able to do it justice, but you have to take some of it out because you, you, it, at least I do. I shouldn't say everyone does, but I need to take parts of it out. And so looking at his artwork and how he looked at a scene and did a sketch and I pretty much do sketches minor, even loose. Well, I don't want to compare myself to him, but it, he did very loose sketches and that was sort of my guide. And, um, it, I think it really helped me not get hung up on every detail that's in my, you know, in front of me and it's okay to leave things out. It's okay to emphasize something. Um, it's okay to flatten the plane. It's okay to look at something from a different angle from above or lower. And I think we're getting kind of into the weeds of painting here, but it was fascinating to me. And it was a, it was a big lesson. It was a, those two books have been very instrumental to me. Well, now I want to go out and get those books. Uh, I think I'm not sure if they're still in print, but I've got them if you want to borrow, oh, Well maybe we'll have to do that. That would be this, this is the way that this always works for me as I hear something and I get like, oh, there's a, there's a squirrel. I'm going to go follow it. And I usually learn so much from that sort of approach. So you also mentioned Mary Cassat as a painter that I love her work. I don't, my work does not have it. You wouldn't look at my work and think there was an influence. But what I love about her work is in this, I do think you could follow in my work. I love that she painted kind of humble family scenes and, uh, women working women, doing things at home. And I have always felt like quilting and pottery things that women traditionally did, um, were as high an art form as anything out there. And, um, I have, um, recently, um, taken, uh, have a couple of paintings where I've taken quilts that my grandmother made and I'll use those under a piece of pottery and some flowers. And I, I really feel like, um, and I, and I, and I know those art forms have gotten, they've gotten acknowledgement that they've never had in the last few years. And I am just thrilled about that because I think there's, there's things that, uh, women have been doing at home that are as high an art form, as you can find. Why do you, you think that this type of recognition is finally, um, being made available? Well, I think a lot, well, in terms of quizzes, um, I do think that, um, that, that has, that recognition started early. That's been in the last, you know, 20 years or so, um, with the quilting that was done in the south by primarily, uh, black women. Um, and then also I think that the young, the millennial, I guess they're called millennials, my kids generation, they have really brought, um, making things into the forefront that I don't feel like my generation did as much, you know, they really value handcrafted things. So I think, I think that's had a lot to do with it too, because I think a lot of those traditional, um, crafts have, have sort of had a resurgence, um, with that generation. And I think it's wonderful. You raise a good point. I'm when I was growing up, my mother had a sewing machine. She made, I don't know, Halloween costumes for us and dresses for us. And she had 10 kids. So she didn't do this forever. I don't think the 10th child had any homemade outfits, but, um, she also, she taught us how to bake pies and right. Um, and I think we got so into the digital world that I think that issue of having something to touch and to hold and to kind of ground us. We, we maybe got a little away from that for a while. And I do see also my, my own children, especially the daughter that I have, who works as a sous chef. She really likes to have her fingers, you know, chopping and touching. And, and I, and I, when you talked about going into ceramics, it kind of reminded me of that. This real you, you use your brain, but you also use other parts of you to interface with the world. Well, that's absolutely true. Um, in, in talking and correlating cooking with ceramics, um, there's a lot of correlation to baking, um, in terms of rolling out dough, you roll out clay. There's also a lot of correlation to sewing because if you're building something by hand, you're going to have a dart in it, which you would call it that and sewing. But, um, you know, you, you, it's interesting because my very first instructor used that for people, you know, she would ask you, have you ever sewn? And because she said, you will understand this a lot better. And so there is, there's a lot of crossover there to the, you know, the type of crafts and skills that you use your hands and your mind with, which is interesting. And I think that's one reason I do know how to sew and not a great baker, but I, my grandmother did teach me to sew. So I do understand about following a pattern and, and things like that. So I think that's one of the reasons that it, the, uh, especially the hand building, um, came a little more naturally to me, but, and also the gardening that you're describing. I know that for me, when I've, especially when I've gone through times where when my mind, I can't get it to kind of calm down if I go out and I just start pulling some weeds or, you know, if I plant some flowers or something that just brings me back to, oh, okay. The world kind of keeps on going. Even if your mind's not going to let you calm down, the world's just gonna, it's gonna grow flowers. It's, you know, the trees that are going to get bigger or the seasons are gonna go along. And, and I think being able to come back to that to nature can be very, I Think it's really reassuring to know with all whatever's going on spring is going to come. The bulbs are going to come up and, um, it just, it's, it's very comforting. And I, I am Struck by again, looking back at the piece that you and I talked about earlier, that there are so many different elements that reflect a lot of these ideas. We've just been talking about. I mean, you've got the ceramics, you've got the flowers, you've got the idea of rebirth. You've got the idea of joy and also incorporates the work that you've done with, um, kind of styling things where you very specifically put together something that you then paint and bring out into the world. I, I think that's true. I, excuse me, I, um, I often will start a painting and then realize I need to be higher on this scene. I need to, I need to get up and sometimes I'll end up like on a painting like this. I might actually put it on the floor and paint it from above. So, and that's very much straight out of, okay, are we high enough on this shot? Are we low enough on this table? Um, and I think it, it, it gave me the freedom. We're not freedom. It just, it, I had the experience to know we can, I can get above this or I can put it higher and get a different angle on it. Uh, it doesn't have to all be shot at eye level and, um, or painted at eye level. And, um, so I think that's, that's very true. I do take a little bit of time when I'm arranging things, because I also, I paint a lot of glass, um, uh, vessels for flowers. And, um, you, you, you really never can paint glass because excuse me, every time you look at it, it's different. Like you may turn your back to the easel and the light is completely different in it and excuse me. Um, but you know, so I, I often will move it around because maybe the bottom of it, it captures this beautiful light reflection that it doesn't, if I'm two feet lower or two feet higher. So I'm constantly moving things around to find something that kind of, you know, peaks my interest in what I'm painting. So I do, I do think that comes from being a stylist, for sure. So you are Always kind of considering perspective, I mean, but in a really interesting way that maybe not all artists are considering it. I mean, that is an important part of art generally, but you, you come at it from this very practical way and from having used it as part of, you know, photography work. Right, right. I think so. I do, you know, I've, I've, I've thought about that, you know, why do I not go in anybody else's studio and see stuff on the floor that they're painting? And then I'm thinking well, because I was used to having to do that every now and then. So For people who might Be thinking that they would like to go back and recapture an early interest in art, the way that you did, um, do you have any, any suggestions, any sort of things that, I mean, you said you had someone who suggested take this, take this class at the Maine college of art with this particular professor. Um, what would you say to somebody who asked you that same question? Well, you Know, I have people ask me that because a lot of people know that I didn't start painting until, um, later. And, um, my advice to them is do it, it it's not. And they say, well, I don't know how to draw. That's usually the biggest, uh, uh, thing that people throw up that that's, for the reason they can't do it, I'd love to, but I cannot draw. And it, you know, drawing is helpful, but you don't really know if you can draw, uh, with a paint brush until you try. And so my advice is to just take a class and see what you think, and if you enjoyed it, keep going. And, um, and don't worry about the, a lot of people think they need to start in drawing 1 0 1 for five years. So they can do that, shaded apple over and over and over. And, you know, for a lot of people that is the way to go and they love it. And then, and they may be that's, that's where they end up and that's fine, but don't let that be a roadblock. Just take a painting class. Even if you think you don't know how to draw, because painting is really, it is drawing, but it is also figuring out what you, you just look for your darkest, dark and your lightest light. And then don't think about what you're painting. In other words, don't think of it as an apple, think of it as a series of dark and light and a color, and then think of it that way. And then you don't get hung up on the drawing aspect of it, because that can be a big, a big burden for a lot of people. I've been speaking with artists, Martha Burkard, and you can find her art at the Portland art gallery, also online, the Portland art gallery website. I've very much enjoyed my conversation with you today here on radio Maine. Thank you for coming in and talking with me about painting. Well, thank you for having me. It's been wonderful.