A passion

... Cont. from C1 “That’s when I started taking lessons from Maurice Bernard and Henry Purdy. Then I joined the Summerside Art Club where members had a chance to take lessons from different Island artists .... And I’ve been painting ever since.”

However, her creativity stopped abruptly nine months ago when she suffered a back injury after moving a 100- pound chair from one floor to another.

“I was decorating for Christmas and I needed more room. The accident left me with two herniated discs in my spine. So for five months I couldn’t paint at all,” she says.

The experience was “horrible,” she says.

“It was

like having my hands tied behind my back. Ever since then, painting has taken on a whole new meaning for me. It’s so much more important to me.

“Over the summer, I started to paint again and discovered that it didn’t trigger my symptoms,” says Martin, adding the experience left her feeling both relieved and thankful.

“I realized that art is a big part of who I am. I was meant to do this. And so, to get it back is a very big gift,” she says.

As for what’s in the future, Martin sees many more paintings coming. She’s also learning as much as she can about art.

Recently she travelled to Nova Scotia to take private painting lessons from landscape artist Cluny Maher.

“I’ve been learning a whole new style, so the next few paintings will be a little softer, more impressionistic.”