Blending community and art together

Natalie Martin creates more than works of art with her artistic talents: she also creates community.

Martin is a Sequim resident, an artist, member of the City Arts Advisory Commission, photographer, and she teaches a series of Pour Sip Paint classes from Port Angeles to Kitsap County.

Born in Almaty City, Kazakhstan, to a family of “creatives” and traveling often as a child, Martin said she had a wonderful example of what art was like across a multitude of cultures, encouraging her to have an open mind on creative outlets.

To this day, she said she can’t define herself to one artistic medium.

“I always try something new,” she said. “I want to try them all.”

Martin later moved to New York as a child, where she first dabbled in art when her fourth grade teacher gave her a chair to paint.

“That was my inspiration for trying something new,” she said. “Understanding the motive was to sell the piece, but for the most part it was letting my creative outlet out.”

While she took art classes, Martin said she wanted to focus more on business management. She worked in an architecture field for seven years, had a son and later moved to Sequim where she worked in a medical facility.

It was in this last year that her artistic efforts have finally allowed her to support herself with her series of Pour Sip Paint classes and her photography business.

Martin also helped launch “Keying Around” two years ago with the Arts Advisory Commission, inviting the community to paint pianos and disperse them throughout Sequim as an approachable way for musicians to play music around Sequim.

“It’s a marriage of art and music,” Martin said. “I wanted it to be something that really attracted a multitude of different generations.”

She said this idea stemmed from when she was living in Portland where she was invited to paint pianos for the Technology School for the Blind in Vancouver — which is now closed — but certified and taught blind post-gradates how to tune and fix pianos.

Martin says this is one way to create community in Sequim, and said a focus on bringing people together is an important aspect of her work.

“It’s my driving force,” she said. “I don’t look to others to drive my creativity or what I want to do. I just create what I would want in a community.”

Pour Sip Paint

Through Martin’s Pour Sip Paint classes, she finds it brings members of the community together to create art.

As a Pour Sip Paint instructor, Martin holds monthly art classes where she offers step-by-step instruction on creating a piece of art from painting canvases to wine glasses. She holds a monthly class at Rainshadow Cafe and offers these classes across the Olympic Peninsula.

She also can facilitate private classes and fundraiser opportunities, such as her next fundraiser on April 19 with United Way of Clallam County where she will offer her Pour Sip Paint services.

“My approach is to have a hands-on experience with every person that comes” she said. “Encouraging them that even if you’ve never painted before it’s not to say you can’t try something new.”

Under the Pour Sip Paint company, she also offers Kiddo n Me classes —for adults and children — and couple sessions where she has individuals create a piece of artwork together.

“They work together and they try to create something unified,” she said.

She said a short-term goal for her Pour Sip Paint classes is to partner with more venues locally and in the surrounding area to provide a wider variety of art classes, but a long-term goal is to raise enough revenue from these classes to offer them at places such as hospitals, cancer facilities and foster agencies.

Martin has already worked with some foster agencies’ staff to create pieces of art as team-building activities.

“Again, building that community and building something that’s going to be enjoyed by everyone in the office,” she said.

“My biggest driving force for continuing (these classes) is hoping everyday someone finds inspiration and creativity in little bits of their day.”

Personal work

When Martin arrived in Sequim several years ago, one of her coworkers mentioned she should do something artistic for herself on the side, and she picked up photography as another creative outlet.

She said in her local photography business, she focuses on family portraits, engagements, weddings and births.

“I try to focus on building the story of love,” she said. “Whether that be from (people) first meeting, getting engaged, having babies to growing their family.”

She said photography is her vice and does some landscape photography as inspiration for her artwork. Music also is a big inspiration for her artwork.

“I think music plays a big role in creative juices flowing in the first place,” she said.

“I’ve always told everyone ‑ ‘a painting you receive will always have a song behind it.’”

One of Martin’s favorite pieces, she said, is an acrylic painting called, “Light of the World” that was inspired by her faith and through life’s ups and downs.

“Light of the World” portrays how factors of our past help mold us and our world around us, sharing with others, loving others, is what gives our world depth.” she said.

“When we allow the rays of God’s love, self love, or whatever you believe love to be, it permeates through and finally gives shape to what was a lifetime in the making.”

Martin added it is by joining these ideas together and building acceptance of the dark and the light that allows us to see things for what they truly are, which is what she said is captured in this piece of artwork.

Future classes, events

Martin’s next Pour Sip Paint event “Spring Umbrella” will be at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 13, at the Hilltop Tavern in Port Townsend. Her next event in Sequim “Spring Flowers” will be 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 2, at Wind Rose Cellars. For more information, visit www.poursippaint.com or email info@poursippaint.com.

She said Keying Around will continue this year and is going to be geared toward a music and art festival with more bands and live artist demonstrations during the First Friday Art Walk in August. The pianos painted in the last few years will be recycled again this year, and more instruments may be painted, such as guitars.

Martin will showcase some of her current work focusing on succulents, florals and landscape work in Pacific Pantry from June-September.

For more information about Natalie Martin, visit her Facebook page “Natalie’s Art & Photography” or call 503-382-9867.