David Martin is likely among the oldest FASO artists and with less formal arts training than many. He earned a BA in Industrial Arts Education with an Art minor from San Francisco State College in 1960, and an MA from San Diego State University in 1970. He taught woodworking and art among other subjects at the high school level in Southern California for 37 years. He became a small woodland tree farmer with purchase of 11 creek bottom acres in Wallowa County in NE Oregon where the family planted over 4700 tree seedlings.
An occasional backpacker, the brief drive to multiple trailheads provided motivation to explore this ancestral home of the Joseph Band of the Nez Perce Indians. Martin conducted many arts & crafts classes for area summer camps and his graphic arts skills have been utilized by several area businesses including the Eagle Cap Excursion Train. His wood carving was inspired while on a car camping trip to the 1962 Seattle World's Fair when a piece of split campfire wood caught Martin's attention influencingMadonna & Childcarvings.
The Nez Perce history of this area encourages Native American themes in Martin's Art repertoire:Wood Carving/Sculpting,PhotographyandAcrylic Painting on Barn-stall Slabs(a unique natural material resembling hand-made paper). In the process of downsizing and simplifying life, Martin recently moved up into the Wallowa Valley and finds new inspiration from the amazing valley light and the majestic mountains.
