Installations

Fun, bold interior and exterior decorative elements represent my love of delight and exaggeration.  Some examples are showcased here: lanterns, metal and vinyl flowers, a giant ribbon, floor and furniture made to look like a flowing river, a painting/poetry collaboration.

Beacons:  My long-time art associate, Karen McVay Butch, and I created a lighted garden installation for Ships of the Sea Museum in Savannah in the winter of 2018.  The figures moved gracefully in the breeze.

Lanterns:  Karen McVay Butch and I were engaged by Savannah College of Art and Design to create an installation of giant lanterns in an old jail for a party during Design Week 2010. The lanterns are made of painted and dyed nylon, Tyvek and plastic.

Flowers:  Savannah College of Art and Design requested an art piece above an outdoor pool at their campus in Lacoste, France.  In response to this call, I invented a group of 85+ flowers made of vinyl, aluminum, glass and plastic.  The flowers were assembled on site in 2011.  I trialed some of the flowers on my own home, the old school, as shown below. I continue to create and develop flowers of differing types to decorate buildings, both inside and out.

Ribbon:  I made a ribbon for my living room wall that represented the chakras, like an energy wave.   The Savannah College of Art and Design purchased it and installed it in two pieces above a stairwell - a total, but cool, surprise to see it split in half and upside down!

River: The old school I live and work in has a 100’ hallway that I have painted to look like the river that runs through my community, the New River. Adding to the effect, I designed fabric (printed at Spoonflower.com) to look like river rocks and made cushions for the Bertoia chairs.

Beach: I painted the bedroom floor in a way that resembles an archeological dig on a beach with a giant sea turtle, shells and horseshoe crabs. The rough old concrete lends itself to a sandy beach texture. Paintings on the walls are of the beach where my parents lived.

Forest: In an old furnace room, we call the “drawing room”, I’ve stenciled corners and painted a forest curtain of a forest scene near me. It separates two rooms and keeps heat in! Painted cloth birds perch near the forest curtain.

Red Wall: Karen McVay Butch and Martha painted a forest on this red wall. Later, small cloth and wire birds made by Martha were added .

Painting/Poetry collaboration: This was a collaboration between Martha and Kirsten Jorgenson, Martha’s niece. It began when Kirsten wrote a poem in response to one of the Elkland Art Center Liberty parades Martha lead. Martha then created a scrolling painting about the poem. Their installation at Ashe Arts Council, West Jefferson, NC encouraged viewers to write something to add to the mix.