| All About Hellen Martin |
Well, this is me at Kiva Indian Art Gallery during the 2010 Santa Fe's NM Indian
Market. If that piece looks big, it's because it is big! The pieces behind me are
at the gallery. View Galleries Representing Hellen to see my art at this gallery.
I'm a born Texas girl!! I've been married to Barry for 40+ lovely years. Don't ask
him because he may have a different opinion. We have three children (2 girls
& 1 boy). Our son gave us our one and only grandson in September 2005. He
is a beautiful boy ... another fisherman and hunter in the family and, hopefully,
a gourd artist.
Barry & I have done a great deal of traveling during our married life. We've
lived in Texas, California, Washington, Oklahoma, and even Holland. I did
teach while in Holland to ladies from Holland, Germany, New Zealand, US, &
Belgium. Our children have traveled right along with us, but only the youngest
went to Holland. The older two stayed in the USA to attend college. They
visited during the Christmas holidays, and we showed them all around.
Market. If that piece looks big, it's because it is big! The pieces behind me are
at the gallery. View Galleries Representing Hellen to see my art at this gallery.
I'm a born Texas girl!! I've been married to Barry for 40+ lovely years. Don't ask
him because he may have a different opinion. We have three children (2 girls
& 1 boy). Our son gave us our one and only grandson in September 2005. He
is a beautiful boy ... another fisherman and hunter in the family and, hopefully,
a gourd artist.
Barry & I have done a great deal of traveling during our married life. We've
lived in Texas, California, Washington, Oklahoma, and even Holland. I did
teach while in Holland to ladies from Holland, Germany, New Zealand, US, &
Belgium. Our children have traveled right along with us, but only the youngest
went to Holland. The older two stayed in the USA to attend college. They
visited during the Christmas holidays, and we showed them all around.
I've juggled working, family, and my love of art most of my married life. I left my VP position with a bank in January 2002,
because it was literally killing me .... long, long hours. I decided to give myself five years to get my business going and actually
accomplished my goals within two years. I was having way too much fun to return to the corporate world. It is a challenge to
take care of all the paperwork, art, taxes, shows, house, yard, etc., but I have a background in finance, business, and marketing
so was able to make some good decisions .... 90% of the time.
I started teaching again in 2010 and will continue giving private lessons as time allows. Visit Classes to see what classes I'm
teaching now and where the classroom classes are held.
I've also written several books within the last two years. I've learned so much in my artistic career that I wanted to share some
of it. I was also hoping it would help other artists learn faster and not struggle like I did ... and sometimes still do. Visit Books &
Patterns to see what books I have available. Hopefully, they will help you.
Barry and I both love Native American art. Maybe it is because we both have an Indian heritage ... Barry is Cherokee, and I'm
Comanche and Blackfoot. One of my distant grandfathers was with Quanita Parker, last fighting Comanche chief, when he and
his fighting comrades finally decided to make peace. A distant grandmother was married in the Oklahoma Territory in 1893.
Even though we don't belong to any tribe, I have been researching it. I really need to do the DNA! It would be much easier.
I love working with gourds, painting, pine needle and closed coiling, carving, and wood burning. I've been painting for over 30
years. I studied art in college, but it seems all I learned was how to take black and white and make lots of gray colors. So, you
might say I'm a self-taught artist. I've read and practiced a great deal. Since 2005, I've mainly been doing Southwest and
American Indian inspired, wildlife, and western pieces. I'm very fortunate to be a in quality galleries. I hope to get in a few
more during 2011.
These are a few pictures of my booth taken in 2006. So, if you see me at a show, please stop by & say "Hello."
because it was literally killing me .... long, long hours. I decided to give myself five years to get my business going and actually
accomplished my goals within two years. I was having way too much fun to return to the corporate world. It is a challenge to
take care of all the paperwork, art, taxes, shows, house, yard, etc., but I have a background in finance, business, and marketing
so was able to make some good decisions .... 90% of the time.
I started teaching again in 2010 and will continue giving private lessons as time allows. Visit Classes to see what classes I'm
teaching now and where the classroom classes are held.
I've also written several books within the last two years. I've learned so much in my artistic career that I wanted to share some
of it. I was also hoping it would help other artists learn faster and not struggle like I did ... and sometimes still do. Visit Books &
Patterns to see what books I have available. Hopefully, they will help you.
Barry and I both love Native American art. Maybe it is because we both have an Indian heritage ... Barry is Cherokee, and I'm
Comanche and Blackfoot. One of my distant grandfathers was with Quanita Parker, last fighting Comanche chief, when he and
his fighting comrades finally decided to make peace. A distant grandmother was married in the Oklahoma Territory in 1893.
Even though we don't belong to any tribe, I have been researching it. I really need to do the DNA! It would be much easier.
I love working with gourds, painting, pine needle and closed coiling, carving, and wood burning. I've been painting for over 30
years. I studied art in college, but it seems all I learned was how to take black and white and make lots of gray colors. So, you
might say I'm a self-taught artist. I've read and practiced a great deal. Since 2005, I've mainly been doing Southwest and
American Indian inspired, wildlife, and western pieces. I'm very fortunate to be a in quality galleries. I hope to get in a few
more during 2011.
These are a few pictures of my booth taken in 2006. So, if you see me at a show, please stop by & say "Hello."
I've included a photo of my one and only grandchild. Nick
is a future "artist."
He has his own special box of gourds along with a lot of
other supplies. We have FUN just working away in my
studio. He even tells me "get to work Mema.".
He is my "heart beat!"
is a future "artist."
He has his own special box of gourds along with a lot of
other supplies. We have FUN just working away in my
studio. He even tells me "get to work Mema.".
He is my "heart beat!"
Express yourself with any type of art. You will be amazed how talented you really are!!
| ~~ Hellen's Motto ~~ Always remember art is in the eye of the beholder, but it's my job to create it. |
1 year old
3 1/2 years old
| Most of the designs within this web site are originals of Hellen Martin. Under no circumstances may they be used or reproduced in any form whatsoever without written permission. |
| Galleries of Pieces for Sale: Additional Pages: Carving, Wildlife, Pyrography (woodburn) & Leather Tooling About the Artist Southwest & American Indian Inspired Favorite Links Christmas & Santa Order Form & Order Information Pine Needle Coiling Why Pine Needle Coiling Cost So Much? Books and Patterns: Galleries: Pine Needle Coiling Woodburned Leather Tooling Award Winners Closed Coiling Let's Add Texture My Favorite Sold Pieces Acrylic Painting Santa Pattern Copper & Bronze Metal Coating with Various Patinas Galleries Representing Hellen Martin: Photos and Information about the galleries Class Descriptions and Schedules Pieces located in each gallery Texas Indian Market & Southwest Showcase Home Photos of the Show - Attended in 2009. Contact the Artist: to discuss a special request, questions about an item, ask about teaching a class, &/or comments. You can also call the artist @ 817-907-3320. E-Mail Me ... or use hellenmmartin@gmail.com |
| Fine Art Gourds by Hellen Martin |
~ Gourd Art is My Passion ~
In 2012, the company Barry work for decided they were going to move his plant to another state so that left him without a job.
We had already decided to downsize from our huge home to something much easier to take care of. So, we just moved
everything up three years. After painting a house inside/outside and getting things into a storage bend that weren't going to
be part of the house during the selling process, just about zapped all my energy. We sold the house in 99 days!!
Figuring out where we wanted to go has been an issue with the kids. They didn't want us too far away. Isn't that sweet! We
selected a house in east Texas, but it got a contract one week before we got ours!!! So, we just moved everything else into a
huge storage unit and moved into our 28' 5th wheel trailer. We really like out trailer and have lots of room. It has two slides in
the main living area along with a faux fireplace that I love!! For the time being, we are parked just outside of Little Elm, TX
which is located half way between Denton and McKinney. We are 35 minutes from the kids. So, we can still have our
grandson over for sleep overs which he likes to do.
We had already decided to downsize from our huge home to something much easier to take care of. So, we just moved
everything up three years. After painting a house inside/outside and getting things into a storage bend that weren't going to
be part of the house during the selling process, just about zapped all my energy. We sold the house in 99 days!!
Figuring out where we wanted to go has been an issue with the kids. They didn't want us too far away. Isn't that sweet! We
selected a house in east Texas, but it got a contract one week before we got ours!!! So, we just moved everything else into a
huge storage unit and moved into our 28' 5th wheel trailer. We really like out trailer and have lots of room. It has two slides in
the main living area along with a faux fireplace that I love!! For the time being, we are parked just outside of Little Elm, TX
which is located half way between Denton and McKinney. We are 35 minutes from the kids. So, we can still have our
grandson over for sleep overs which he likes to do.