Painter
Susan’s Web Site
Member of Flag since:
2017
Susan’s Bio:
Susan Martin was raised in south Texas. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin, and then continued coursework in Art Education and Art History. A significant part of her educational experience was the opportunity to study photography and composition under the eminent photographer Russell Lee, best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA).
Lee’s lasting influence can be observed in her sharp, clean examination of the subject, her preference for strong contrasts that reveal surface quality and detail, and an emphasis on composition that comes from years of work in black and white.
Early in her career, the artist turned to acrylics in her quest for the clean edges that a quick drying medium can deliver, adding depth and intensity of color through multiple, thin layers of paint. Working from her own photographs, usually cropped and altered, her work developed ‘Super-Real’ characteristics, creating an image beyond the scope of the camera.
Susan’s paintings are exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the state in competitive and invitational settings. She is a founding member of Ten Women in Art, whose exhibitions have been presented across the state of Florida for twenty-five years. Martin’s work has been purchased for a number of collections, including Southern Progress Corporation, Chugai-Upjohn, Sterling Drugs, and McGraw-Hill.
Martin works out of her home studio on south Merritt Island, Florida.
Artist Statement:
I am attracted to the chaos of growth and competition in nature. The thickets of branches and leaves provide a wealth of material from which I can select a tight, complex composition of lines, shapes, and patterns, with a special affinity for the interplay of positive and negative shapes. By eliminating the context normally provided by the background, and studying a subject close-up, the abstract qualities are emphasized and the composition becomes a thing apart from its representation of plant life, with a life and value of its own.
It also becomes personal. This series of intimate landscapes seek to elicit that magical moment when ones steps into and becomes a part of the natural world, when the rustle of leaves in the breeze and occasional bird calls are the only sounds but there is life all around, and one is only an insignificant part of it.
Corporate Collections:
Appleton Art Museum, Ocala, Florida
Burdines (now Macys), Orlando, Florida
Chugai-Upjohn Company, Chicago, Illinois
Cultural Center Barble, Strassen, Luxembourg
Las Verandas Hotel & Villas, Roatan, Honduras
Marriott at Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida
McGraw-Hill Companies, New York City, New York
Southern Progress Corporation, Birmingham, Alabama
Sterling Drug, Incorporated/ Bayer AG, Germany
Vero Beach Museum of Art, Vero Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach Regional Airport, Magnolias, 1993, 6′ x 12’ Commission
SOLO EXHIBITIONS (Selected):
2025 Arts and Douglas, New Smyrna, FL, Chasing Light
2023 Alliance for the Arts, Ft. Meyers, FL Into the Green
2023 Turner Art Center, Valdosta, GA, Susan Martin
2023 Mt. Dora Art Center, Mt. Dora, FL, Immersive Botanicals
2022 Polk Art Museum, Lakeland, FL, Efflorescence
2021-22 Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, FL Garden Party
2021 Gallery 14, Vero Beach, FL, Zoom In
2019 Art Center of Sarasota, Sarasota, FL, Natural Forms
2019 Daytona State College, Daytona Beach, FL, Intimate Landscapes
2017 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL, Intimate Landscapes
2015 Foosaner Art Museum FVE Gallery, Melbourne, FL
2013 Cultural Center Barble, Strassen, Luxembourg
JURIED AND INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS (Selected):
2026 Fifth Avenue Gallery, Melbourne, FL, Pure Florida
2026 Bailey Art Gallery, Hobe Sound, FL, a shell called the Neptune
2025 Court House Cultural Center, Stuart, FL, The Real Deal-New Old Masters
2024 Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida Artists Group Symposium Art Beat, St. Pete
2024 Hollis Taggart Gallery, Selected NAWA Artists, New York, NY, A Tradition Continues
2024 Arts on Douglas, New Smyrna, FL, Endless Summer
2024 Alliance for the Arts, Ft. Myers, FL, FLAG Florida Medley
2024 National Assoc. of Women Artists, One Art Space, New York, NY,
2023 Vero Beach Museum of Art, Vero Beach, FL,
“Treasure Coast Creates: A Tribute to Local Artists“
2022 Florida Artists Group, 72nd Annual Exhibition,
Best of Show, Juror Holly Koons
2022 Turner Art Center, Valdosta, GA, Florida Artists Group-Juror’s Choice
2021 Foosaner Art Museum, Strawbridge Art league, Melbourne, FL, Vision, Gold Award
2019 Gallery 14, Vero Beach, FL, Strokes of Genius Invitational Art Exhibit
2019 Fifth Avenue Gallery, Melbourne, FL, Pure Florida
2018 Alliance for the Arts, Fort Myers, Fl, All Florida Juried Exhibition
2018 Florida Artists Group, Weber Gallery-College of Central Fl, Ocala, FL
2017 Foosaner Art Museum, Melbourne, Fl, Woman-Made: Female Artists from the Foosaner
2017 Florida Artists Group, Coral Springs Museum of Art, Coral Springs. FL,
2016 Court House Cultural Center, Stuart, FL, Annual All Florida Juried
2016 Visual Arts Center, Punta Gorda, FL, Tenth Biennial National Art Exhibit
2016 Derek Gore Gallery, Melbourne, Fl, Sights, Insights: Ten Women in Art
2015 Morean Art Center, St. Petersburg, Fl, All Florida Juried Exhibition
2015 Florida Dept of State, 22nd Floor Gallery, Tallahassee, Out My Backdoor
2014 Strawbridge Art League, Melbourne, FL, Visions, Best of Show
2013 7th Biennale d’Art Contemporain, Strassen, Luxembourg
2013 Florida Museum for Women Artists, Deland, FL, Annual Exhibition
2013 Cornell Museum, Delray, Fl Juried Exhbition
2012 Morean Art Center, St. Petersburg, FL, Bloom
2011 Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL, All Florida Competitive
2010 Museum of Florida Art, Deland, FL, Biennial V
2008 Tampa International Airport, Tampa, FL, Personal Baggage
2007 Thomas Center Gallery, Gainesville, FL, Competitive Exhibition
2006 Albany Museum of Art, Albany, GA
2005 Fish House Art Center Gallery, Stuart, FL, Competitive Juried
2004 Cornell Museum of Art, Delray Beach, FL, Juried Exhibition
2002 Maitland Art Center, Maitland, FL, Juried Exhibition
2000 Artists Unlimited Inc, Tampa, FL, Nat’l Open Juried Exhibition
2000 Vero Beach Museum of Art, Vero Beach, FL, Florida Competitive
1997 Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL, Nat’l Contemp. Painting
1992 Vero Beach Museum of Art, Vero Beach, FL, For Real: Selected Florida Artists
PUBLICATIONS and MEDIA COVERAGE (Selected):
Artists Magazine, ‘Acrylic Works 9’, Second Place Winner Susan Martin, 2022
Video Interview for Appleton Museum, “Artist’s Outlook with Susan Martin”, 2021, https://youtu.be/xPwj1931xjY
Artists Magazine, ‘Acrylic Works 8’, Second Place Winner Susan Martin, 2020
Brevard Live, “Florida Art: Susan Martin”, John Leach, October, 2015
Brevard Culture, “Susan Martin Exhibition”, Pam Harbaugh, September, 2015
Florida Today, “Local botanicals go on display overseas”, Maria Sonnenberg, 2013
New American Paintings, No. 94 Southern Edition, 2011
Space Coast Living Magazine, “The Tennies”-Ten Women in Art, December, 2005,
Medizin im Bild, “Uberrealistische Perspektiven”, July-August, 1996
Art in Public Places:
Daytona Beach Regional Airport, Magnolias, 1993, 6′ x 12’ Commission
Honors:
U.S. Department of State, Art in Embassies Program, 1989
Florida Artists Group, (Secretary)
Ten Women in Art (Founding Member 1984-2015)
Education:
B.F.A. in Studio Art, University of Texas at Austin
Art Education Certification, University of Texas at Austin
Course Study with Photographer Russell Lee, University of Texas at Austin,
Art History, University of the Americas, Mexico City