Featured Artist: Martha Spieker

Martha at work and play

In her own words . . .

Shari asked me to write a bio and fortunately gave me some guiding questions, as writing these things always causes my mind to go blank.

Like most other people, I first started creating art as a kid. The difference is that I didn’t stop making things. Sure, there have been starts and stops over the years (school, work, family and all the other responsibilities of adulting), but I keep coming back to making things.

I love how art changes the way I see the world. Art expands my horizons and shifts my world view.

My day job as an anesthesiologist involved very different responsibilities and environment, but I did enjoy caring for people. That checked one of my boxes, but that still left the creative part of me seeking an outlet.

Shari asked about my favorite piece. My favorite work is often the one I just finally finished. I have had people want a piece that I have just completed, but I usually ask them to wait six months so I can live with it a bit. The art on the walls of our house is always rotating, so I can consider work from different angles and in different moods. I have been known to take things off the wall years later and “ finish” them.

I don’t have a lot of formal training. I’ve taken classes but I didn’t go to art school. I call myself a mixed media artist, which just means that I sometimes mix stuff together because no one told me not to, although I do check for compatibility of the material.

I create a variety of 2-dimensional art. I like oil paints, but they don’t always like me, so I paint more in acrylic these days, occasional watercolor, pastel, encaustic, cold wax and do some collage. I’ve started printing the last few years and I’m trying to figure that out. I do mostly monotypes which is painting backwards with printing ink on a piece of acrylic (although you can use copper or another metal) and running it through a printing press. You get one good print and then a “ghost” (second print). To me it feels like the beginning of an oil painting, and although it takes hours there is a sense of immediacy to it.

I have had the privilege of printing with Ginny Furmanski on her late-1800s printing press, and Jonelle Johnson on her fancy modern press, and through both experiences I have learned so much. I have also been using gelli plates (silicone slabs) to print. Gelli plates give me an entirely different set of techniques to utilize.

People look at the work on the walls of my studio and think it must be done by different people, but each piece is just a different expression of how I see things.

I get to paint with my dog Zuzu, an eight year old Havenese. He is my first small dog and I am hooked. I always thought big dogs were what you lived with, and small dogs were animals you visited. I was wrong, and he is wonderful. He is not high strung or barky, and he doesn’t shed. He is a bit of a cat, but I do love him - he has a cat-like independence, and he loves company but does not always want to be messed with. Also, he doesn’t put his nose up in your face like a dog, he sidles up and sits down. He is a great studio dog, carefully walking around anything I have spread out on the floor without ever being taught that was the thing to do. He goes almost everywhere with me.

The artist and her muse, Zuzu.

I have done many pet portraits for friends and co-workers. It all started with a birthday card for someone at work, and then people began asking me for paintings of their pets. Now I only do special requests for friends that I know and love.

For some reason, I have never felt inspired to create art based on my own pets.

I have my own space on wall and a yearly show at Chimera, which is a lovely co-op gallery on Lopez Island in Washington state. The art that I show on Lopez is only one part of what I make. I hang other work in the Bellevue area in various locations.

I post art and only art on my Instagram @spiekerart (I don’t post often enough, though I’m working on that.) I cross post to my Facebook page which does get sprinkled with some other stuff—so if you don’t want to know my opinions follow me on Instagram.You can see more of my art on my website. I created the site and update it myself, which is obviously a problem. I think it should be updated, but that’s a task for another day . . . .

Shari jumping in again: I think the website is wonderful!

Check out more of Martha’s art at spiekerart.com and on Instagram @spiekerart.

In addition to the landing page for this website, Martha’s art often graces episodes of The Dogs of Looser Island. Subscribe for the stories and the art at sharilane.substack.com.