" PAINTINGS YOU'LL WANT TO TOUCH."

-Martha McAleer                                        

 

All I've ever wanted to be and all I've ever been is an artist. From a very young age, my view of the world was that of a moving painting. My earliest memories were of a fascination with nature and its mechanics. I'd get up close and visually erase anything but the singular object that I was viewing. That was the start of my seeing the world in black and white. For me, it was a simpler way to remember details. To this day I see the world at large in black and white but when I paint it becomes vibrant with color!

 

I began sketching with a #2 pencil and lined paper in the first grade. I'd look at an object and sketch without looking at my hand or the paper and I would create an exact replica. It amazed me that I could do this. I continued doing this for the next several years by playing with plaster, paint and fabric.

 

But it wasn't until high school and an incredible art teacher who transferred to Maine from NYC that I really became inspired and challenged.  My award winning projects inspired me to make art my lives work.

 

I was accepted to both Pratt and FIT my senior year of High School. I was exhilarated by the idea of attending one of these prestigious schools, but my dreams quickly came to a close. My parents had other plans for me which included attending a Liberal Arts college in Boston.

 

Disappointed by the direction that my life was taking, I set my goals to someday return to the art world. I spent the next several years in Restaurant Management learning the business from the front of the house to the back. Bored and exhausted I enrolled in The American Academy of Art in Chicago and studied the basics of painting, drawing and design. 

 

For many years I mostly illustrated figurative floral paintings and freelanced creating logo designs. I always adored Georgia O’Keefe’s work and was inspired to

create my own style and began painting and selling very large and colorful florals. I love to paint just large enough for the painting to consume my field of vision.

 

Today I work primarily on canvas with acrylic paint and plaster. I create paintings with lots of texture. I'm very drawn to a cool palate. I want to draw the viewer in for a moment with a curiosity as to what they are seeing. I have a thing about order that I consistently put into my work along with lots of texture and clearly bright colors. 

 

I build my paintings systematically as a sculptor of architecture would do by layering one color, texture and idea at a time.

 

For the last 18 years, my art business consists of an ongoing rotational Solo Exhibit at Sorell in Roslyn N.Y.

 

 A solo show is scheduled at The Gallery at Quogue Library, Quogue, N.Y.  My work will also be on exhibit  at the Women of The World 2015 Show at the Office of Nassau Comptroller and Bloomingdales Furniture Gallery this spring. My Exhibit schedule, along with my availability for commissioned work, can be seen on my website marthamcaleer.com. 

 

I’m so happy that I'm a painter!