Martin Davis

Artistic background

Martin is an ex-firefighter turned artist. After university and then more than 30 years in the fire & rescue service, during which time painting was the perfect antidote to the stresses of his operational working life, he committed himself fully to developing his art and has spent the last 16 years finding his own artistic voice.

Mainly an artist in oils Martin’s output can be diverse & wide-ranging. Apart from his current focus on still life it includes landscapes & urban scenes to more figurative/abstract work and commissioned portraiture, but whatever the subject matter his painterly style is characterized by a trademark vibrancy of colour and attention to fine detail, sometimes accompanied by a slightly surreal twist.

He is a member of the Visual Artists’ Association and a founder member of the Derbyshire Artists’ Guild and in 2020 his work was selected for show in both the Harley Gallery Open and the prestigious ING Discerning Eye exhibitions. In 2022 his work was recognized by the Royal Academy and selected for the Summer Exhibition 2022 (where it sold before the exhibition opened to the public) and by Flux for their virtual Summer Exhibition.

Even though he is almost wholly self-trained Martin’s artwork is sought by private collectors around the world and he has secured coveted gallery space throughout the UK as well as here in his native Derbyshire where he works from his home studio.

Quote

"Painting for me is a kind of ecstasy, an intense & personal struggle to bring to life a private world of accumulated memories & images. It’s often exhausting and exhilarating at one and the same time but it also acts like a balm, calming my soul like nothing else.
Inspiration for my artwork is often twofold; my emotional response to words and, visually, the effects of light on colour and form. Direct influences and inspiration for specific paintings often arise from images (or even words or phrases – especially from poetry) in current affairs and the world around me. This is especially so if they strike a chord with my own past or trigger distant personal memories.
I try to use my sense of colour and love of form to raise the spirits. One of my abiding hopes is that, like music, art can serve to engender a greater sense of wellbeing – in observer and creator alike. I believe art at its best can be a simple, joyful experience as well as a vehicle for asking more difficult & fundamental questions about human experience.”