Two years ago, Amber Martin came across some used canvases at the Hancock Town Library.
She wasn’t much of a painter but decided to take them. Martin sanded them down, bought some inexpensive paint and a kids’ easel and went to work. One of her first projects was a Christmas present for her partner’s parents.
“They liked it,” Martin said. “I guess I could paint, who knew?”
From there she made more presents, got a commissioned job and was asked to be in her first-ever art show at the Jaffrey Civic Center’s annual autumn exhibition last fall. And starting Saturday, Martin, an Antrim resident, will have her first solo show in the place where it kind of all began – the Hancock Library.
The exhibit will be in the Daniels Room through May 8 with an opening reception on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m.
When Martin began painting she never thought it would lead to anything like shows or money or attention on social media. She just enjoyed it and wanted to see where it would go.
“I liked what came out of it,” Martin said.
Martin admits that she can’t paint things like cats or flowers (which her grandmother did), so instead, she opts for the world of abstract. Using acrylics and a mini roller, she typically just starts painting.
“I grab whatever color I feel like at the moment, and push colors around on a canvas. I just go with the flow and see what happens,” Martin said.
She starts with one color and then adds more, mixing directly on the canvas.
“I might not do anything for an entire week and then the next paint a couple times a week,” Martin said. “I just get in these moods to paint.”
Martin doesn’t use brushes too often, only to add details she can’t achieve with her roller – the same with sponges to help bleed colors together. She tries to finish each piece in one sitting, but it all depends on how it’s turning out.
“I’ll do so many layers and hate it along the way,” Martin said. “Sometimes I work on something for a couple weeks.”
Martin has been working on a fiction novel for a while, but once she began painting, it took a back seat to her art. She wanted to focus her creative energy on the canvas but plans to one day finish it.
“Everything has been geared toward the painting,” Martin said.
Art and painting never really excited her during school, but now she has just this incredible urge to create.
“I remember just wanting to try something different,” Martin said.
So far she has sold three paintings and some of those hanging in the exhibit will be for sale. A few of the pieces are ones that she sold and got permission to show.
During the autumn show at the Jaffrey Civic Center, Martin received first place in the people’s choice award.
“I never saw that coming,” she said. “I really had no idea I could paint.”
As for the future, Martin would like to take part in more shows and continue to improve.
“I would really like to do it on a more serious level,” she said.
The exhibit is open during library hours Monday and Wednesday, 2 to 6 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.