We made it through another week at home! To celebrate, Creative Growth invites you to collaborate with John Martin. Download his coloring book (it’s free!) to use as a springboard for your own projects.
Below are some examples made by talented members of our community—please send us yours too! You can email us at gallery@creativegrowth.org. For social media, tag @creativegrowth and use #JohnMartinCG.
Please help keep us connected. If you can, consider making a donation during this critical time. Your gift will directly support online programs and the purchase of art supplies for Creative Growth artists sheltering-in-place.
ABOUT JOHN MARTIN
John Martin's fascination with tools and trucks has informed his oeuvre since 1987, when he first came to Creative Growth – pictured below with former Studio Instructor Stan Peterson!. John creates drawings that synthesize his memories of a family farm in Mississippi with his modern life in Oakland. His work both describes the function of a tool and subverts practicality through his outrageous animal mash-ups, oversized Leatherman tools, and mysterious text: fish become knives, alligators become saws, John becomes a Nokia phone, a multitool is splayed open to show grinning sharks. His wry and practical sense of humor is evident in all of his compositions, translating utilitarian imagery into his graphic and animated aesthetic.
John spoke about his childhood in this interview with Studio Director Matt Dostal from 2018:
MD: Can you tell me where you were born?
JM: Mississippi. I ain’t been down there in a good while, though. When I was a kid, I was about 10 years old. They had a pig farm down there, they had a pig farm, my family did. [Aunt] Ora Mae and her godfather had that farm.
MD: Sometimes you tell me about the pigs’ names, what were they?
JM: Susan.
MD: They were all named Susan? How many pigs were there?
JM: Four.
MD: And they were all named Susan? Four pigs is a small pig farm.
JM: That’s more than enough.
