ARTIST STATEMENT by Lavanna Martin
I am an artist that has left the studio. I paint people from life. Most of the time,my subjects do not know that they are being painted. I travel light, and usually by bike.
I stare at people. I trace them with my finger in under the table. It took a long time for me to actually put the years of engraphing to the test. There was always an excuse: “I don’t have a good, portable easel; I don’t want to get caught; I can’t relax enough if people are watching…”. Slowly, I whittled away at the excuses. I got the good easel, and I went to Epoch Coffeehouse, which is close to my house.
It was easy; I was in my element. All those years of wondering what to do with myself melted away. I had found my addiction, if not my calling. On that first day, I did about 9 paintings and was no longer fearful of painting in public.
