Art – Martha Bloomfield's Place

Words are not always enough to communicate the beautiful, but sometimes brutal images which appear spontaneously in my mind. I also had to reconcile the fact that it is literally impossible to photograph those images I see within myself during my waking or sleeping hours. Therefore, I became inspired to transmit what I saw, imagined or felt into color, form and shapes on paper.

My art emerges from my subconscious in intense colors using markers or gouache paint. My images are raw, uninhibited and primitive without censorship, from within or from without. They include mythical memories, dreamscapes, illusions, fantasies, harsh realities and ethereal, ghost-like characters symbolizing a whole spectrum of haunting emotions. They encompass feelings of pain and joy, ambiguity and clarity, the simple and complex, repression and expression.

My art is in the “naïve” or “primitive” or “surreal” genre, as I have no formal training as an artist. Some of my paintings are considered “folk art.” My art just is—reflections of my feelings of loss, abandonment, fear, anger, grief, love, confusion, repression, yearning, joy—not right or wrong, good or bad. Sometimes my images are playful.

Sometimes, my art and poetry complement one another. They are necessarily integral to one another. When I can not find the words I want, I paint the images I see within my mind. Sometimes, I try to capture what I see accurately. Other times, I transform and distort it into new images often outlined in black or silver or gold, resembling leaded, stained glass windows. However, sometimes, I also begin drawing with a pencil, tracing the lines of thick, textured paper until images emerge. Originally, I only drew with black thin markers, but then intense color became essential to the feelings and images.

All these primal images, however they appear, mirror my inner world, reflecting feelings and dreams from childhood, adolescence and adulthood. By confronting my inner world directly, with unrelenting perseverance and without flinching, I gain insight. I journey through time into my past where I sometimes find answers to the questions which flood my mind.

For me, art is a language of freedom of self-expression which transcends old limitations and boundaries. My images are raw, uninhibited and primal created in intense colors. My imaginative fantasies unfold in scenes of nature–the moon, the sun, the stars, trees, mountains, water and animals.

I paint many different birds–those which I watch—the eagle resting on a branch at night in moonlight or in flight in sunlight, those which I imagine spewing from my mouth from the depths of my soul birthing birds—some with broken, bleeding wings, new ones flying proudly. Sometimes, I am the bird trying to escape to freedom, falling, standing up and starting over again. I once was the frantic peacock lady—but no more. Now I am the bird set free. As the birds emerge, they fly to new lands, discover new life, and experience freedom from censorship.

I wish to share these intimate words and images to empower others to feel their own emotions and reap meaning and understanding and strength from their inner souls and worlds from their sleeping and waking hours.

Included here are a few of several hundred pictures:

Mircho Climbing Mt. Vitosha, Bulgaria