Ellen McCormick Martens

My blogs

Gender	Female
Industry	Arts
Occupation	Painter
Location	Houston, Texas, United States
Introduction	I do abstract collage, mostly using paper that I paint and print myself. I also use stencils and my own carved rubber stamps. I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and decided to be an artist at age 12. I began to paint full-time in 1996, after working as a computer typesetter for 16 years. At first I did a lot of brightly-colored landscapes with flattened shapes and space. I love light through trees, and painted a lot of that subject. You can see some of this work on my older blog, ellenmccormickmartens.blogspot.com. From bright, flat landscapes I moved on to beaded collage portraits of myself and my family, then to geometric zodiac paintings, and on to the abstract collage work I am currently creating. I hope that my spirit comes through my work. I believe that each human being is immortal, incarnated many times, and that we keep learning and perfecting ourselves.
Interests	art, dreams, food, animals, environment, progressive politics, Tarot and Qabalah
Favorite Movies	Eraserhead, Earth Girls Are Easy, The Princess Bride, The Apple War, Astral City, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Cat People, Amelie, Chocolat
Favorite Music	rock and roll, blues and jazz
Favorite Books	The Alexandria Quartet, Jane Eyre, A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe, My Father's Island, Great Expectations, the Buru Quartet

Which is more important to you and why: flexibility or expandability?

Mosquitoes