We caught up with the brilliant and insightful CL Martin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
CL, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I draw a lot. For as long as I can remember. I align myself with the principles of French Absurdism so I reject the concept of “purpose”. I just happened to have had the privilege to get an art education and practice being a working artist.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m an artist, a web designer, a graphic designer and a ux designer but my main thing is making art. I have been drawing for as long as I can remember, especially human faces. The art itself is difficult to explain other than it’s figurative. It’s mainly about expressive human emotion and trying to capture that in a drawing. I am a life long learner so everything that I study informs my art, even if I’m not aware of it. Some of my study passions include a lot of history. History of art, history of design, history of cultures and societies, history of war, the history of history itself. I also maintain an anthropologist’s frame of mind as I’m always curious about humans and I like to observe them. My art is all about stories, the stories we tell others, the stories we tell ourselves. It’s theater and performance. I invent my own archetype based on all of the above. Then I draw them. It’s something I have done since I was a child basically because it’s fun. I don’t like to say much about the art because I prefer the viewer, other people, to project their own stories onto it and glean a unique interpretation of it. That’s what art is.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Storytelling is a huge skill. It’s pretty much the center of human beings. One gets better at it with age and experience. Dovetailing off storytelling, other good skills to have are socializing and networking. You need these for everything. These are a challenge for me and always have been but they can be for most people. Again, it gets easier as you get older because you can connect your stories and tell them while not caring as much about what other people might think about you. Obviously my skills for design and art, composition, color theory, etc. I studied a lot and practiced a lot. Like A LOT. For someone starting out their “journey”, don’t be too hard on yourself. When you’re young, you worry about a lot of things that don’t actually matter. Try new and different things all the time. Be curious.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
Teachers. I love teachers. Several teachers have helped me a lot – mentally, emotionally and intellectually. I gravitate towards people who are natural teachers. They are captivating storytellers. I love learning entirely new ways of thinking and about concepts I would have never even conceived of, let alone questioned. That’s what teachers are for.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://clmartinart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cl.martin.art
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artbyclmartin
Image Credits
All images by CL Martin
