Ebb and Flow 2, oil & pencil on paper, 2024
Artist Bio
Martha Hill is an abstract artist living in Kingston, NY, who is inspired by color, mood, and the natural beauty of the Hudson Valley. After earning a BFA, she worked in non-profit organizations, before becoming a special education teacher in 2002. During a 20-year teaching career, her art focused on abstract drawing using pastels and charcoal. Martha has taken classes at the Woodstock School of Art since 2011 and began oil painting in 2016. Since then, she has developed a body of abstract landscapes combining palette knife painting and mark-making. She also creates monotypes and collages. Her work conveys the emotions and sensitivities of inner landscapes, rather than representing actual places. Martha’s work has been shown in various Hudson Valley locations including Arbor Gallery, Art Society of Kingston, Create Council on the Arts, Emerge Gallery, Gallery 40, The Sketchbook Gallery, Spencertown Academy, Woodstock Artists Association & Museum, and the Woodstock School of Art.
Artist Statement
Art allows me to express what I can only share through imagery. I’ve always related to the world visually and emotionally- observing color, light, and shadows, while sensing moods and tones. By creating art, I can distill and convey my perceptions.
Painting is my primary medium, but I also make monotypes. In addition, drawing and collage play a role in my artistic practice, letting me develop ideas in an informal way.
My abstract landscape paintings are inspired by color, feeling, and movement. Some works call for soft muted tones with a bright accent. Others pull me in a direction of moody palettes of deep greens and blues or chromatic blacks. Using oil paint and palette knives, I begin by applying areas of color and defining shapes. Observing how different areas contrast and echo each other, I develop the composition by adding, layering, and scraping away paint. Mark-making is also part of my process – I sometimes begin with pencil marks to break up the space and later add line to enliven the work.
Most of my paintings are in a square format which I enjoy because it subverts the expectation that comes with portrait or landscape-oriented rectangles. A square format also frees me to turn the paper or canvas as I’m working to assess relationships between different areas of the painting before deciding on the final orientation.
When making monotypes, I approach the piece in a similar way as when I paint, occasionally using one of my paintings as inspiration. Using brayers, brushes and other tools, I blend and remove ink to build a composition. I also enjoy experimenting with reworking the printing plate and making multiple passes through the press to develop areas of transparency and opacity.
Whatever the medium, as I play intuitively with the space, the process feels like choreography. In the end, each piece represents an inner landscape, evoking a sense of place yet allowing the viewer to decide where that place might be.