CARLISLE’s Martin Evans has joined an innovative project to help keep the arts alive and help artists through the coronavirus crisis.

The #artistsupportpledge was thought up by artist Matthew Burrows, who is originally from the Wirral but is currently based in East Sussex.

“I had never heard of him but he started the artist support pledge,” admitted Martin. “A lot of artists are not able to teach or run clubs, or have their work sold at galleries. The theory behind artist support pledge is to sell a few of your own paintings that are reasonably affordable – nothing over £200.

“When you reach £1,000 you buy a painting from a fellow artist, so it is artists supporting artists. There are about 18,000 posts with the hashtag, so hopefully it is building into something.”

Martin moved to Cumbria with his family when he was eight years old – he is now 39 – and attended Caldew School before studying graphic design at the city’s art college.

“After that I fell out of art and I just did a little as a hobby here and there. It is only in the last five years that I have taken it a bit more seriously,” he said.

“I started doing a lot more painting – I am self taught as a painter. I have got a creative background with my family. I was always drawing and painting as a kid. My parents were quite creative and my sister, Lily Greenwood, is an artist. She was in Manchester and she studied art there, and had her own shop there. She has moved back up here now and lives at Rosley.”

Martin – who says spray paint, acrylic paint and oil pastel are his most used mediums – has exhibited in several galleries, including the Courthouse Gallery in Ambleside.

It is a little different from the original career he envisaged, when he began studying graphic design.

“I realised fairly early on that I wasn’t suited for a job in graphic design. It was very structured, but painting allows me to be a lot freer,” he said.

“I ended up in retail jobs. But you realise that life is too short sometimes, and you want to try something that you enjoy, something that lets out those creative urges.

“I was having a bit of a rough time at work. I wanted a change, and my wife, Jo, was really supportive and still is.

“Art is a tool for me to capture the beauty of the world around us in my own vision, breathing new life into traditional subjects such as landscapes and the natural world by incorporating contemporary tools and techniques along with the use of vibrant colour palettes and bold mark making.

“I have been inspired by the street art I have seen when travelling, bringing that feeling of freedom and spontaneity into my artwork by using spray paint, pallet knives and paint rollers.”

Martin became a full time artist – with a spare bedroom in their Warwick Road home in the city becoming his studio – and he also found a job which tallied perfectly with his artistic career, working 25 hours a week in visitor services at Tullie House in Carlisle.

“The job at Tullie House came up which works brilliantly, it is a very creative place. I have been able to hang exhibitions like the Turner exhibition, and the New Light exhibition celebrating Northern artists. I get lots of creative inspiration through working at Tullie House, and from the people I work with,” he said.

Tullie House – like all museums and galleries – is closed at present due to the coronavirus outbreak, but it is very active on a daily basis on Facebook and Instagram to keep people in touch with the arts, said Martin.

The restrictions caused by the coronavirus have stopped Martin working at Tullie House for the present, but he is still able to keep on producing artwork in his studio.

“I am a landscape painter mainly, I love the outdoors, living in Cumbria you are surrounded by inspiration. A lot of artists inspire me from Van Gogh right through, and I follow a lot of artists on Instagram,” he said.

“I like to see what other people are doing, but I am trying to use my own style. I like to experiment with paint, how it works and how it flows. My pictures are quite bright generally.

“I am starting doing more Carlisle-based paintings. I have just posted one on my site of Carlisle Cathedral.”

Although Martin works from home, he is hoping to some day have a studio somewhere in the city, but says that until now he hasn’t found anywhere offering suitable facilities.

“I like to visit and photograph places. I do sometimes go and paint outdoors but a lot of my work is from visiting the place because what I do is fairly abstract. I am not looking to replicate exact detail.

“I have a lot of photographs on my computer so the restrictions aren’t affecting me too much at the moment.”

Martin his own website - with links to Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. His website address is www.martinevansart.com