Heather Ihn Martin Fine Art

I really wanted to paint this spot and have wanted to for years but the moment didn’t feel right. Apparently what my body was waiting for was the perfectly miserably cold and wet weather to stand in for hours.

I’ve painted in the rain before but this time was really hard to bare. The paint wouldn’t stick to the canvas, and the slow constant drizzle had me drenched and shivering.

It’s not terrible but I’ll probably touch things up now that my body isn’t in flight mode.

Yesterday, late in the afternoon, I reluctantly dragged myself out to get a little bit of fresh air and some painting done. My go-to spot is an open space close-by that just doesn’t get old. The bottom one got away from me, as I was aiming to capture this sliver of time that was gone in a blink of an eye. In the end I found myself just going from memory.

Starting social media basically from scratch feels impossible but if anything has worked for me in the past it’s been persistence.

For those on the fence about deleting meta apps, just do it. You will feel lighter. It’s not easy, but also having more mental energy to invest in places that you want to grow is important.

I didn’t have “Have Artwork Stolen and Made Into Paint By Numbers Product” on my bingo card this year, but this is…something. Huge thanks to the person who let me know about it.

Unfortunately I don’t think there’s much I can do about it. I wrote a bad review, and reported them (even though it physically hurt to log back into scAmazon). It’s hard to not just want to throw your hands into the air and give up completely when AI images and theft are running rampant, and the world feels like it’s literally about to end. You can see the full original painting of mine

I guess the cool (and depressing part) is that the finished product is kind of impressive. Glad it at least brought a few people a little bit of joy.

Sure, I enjoy painting those epic landscapes and postcard-perfect compositions of beloved monuments and landmarks, but honestly sometimes the most striking things are right under our noses.

A painting done June 2024 for the Paint Grand Traverse plein-air event. Last year I was particularly gutsy and am proud of the pieces I made. This one was the last of the bunch.

I grew up in Michigan, and spent a lot of vacations and time in Traverse City. The area is so stunning, and alive! So much good food, beautiful scenery, and lovely people.

Despite all the terrible things going on, there have been some small personal wins. Gotta sprinkle some good in there, right?

Last year I had licensed out this image for use at World Market and was so excited to find it in stores two nights ago. This is my first time doing this sort of thing, but I am happy to have a more affordable ready-to-hang option for fans of my work.

Let me tell you about the painting in case you purchase the print. (Which I hope you’ll consider, as they might return for more!)

It’s originally a smaller piece, I believe 8x10 so the 17x21 format surprised me. It’s one of my all time favorites though, and has a quiet and comforting vibe that would level up a reading nook or office.

The vase was found in a garage sale. I got an armful of these cobalt beauties for a steal! The color just tickles something in my brain, and they’re used quite often in my work.

The vintage books (Poems by Emily Dickinson, and the green is by David Attenborough) are gifts from my brother, as well as the little celadon Korean teacup so this piece has personal significance. My favorite part of the whole piece is the tiny visible swirl at the bottom of the cup, which is often a little signature from potters. It’s not so tiny at this large scale, but I hope it’s appreciated.

And the roses! Home grown, heirloom, just delicious. The luscious petals are painted in thick juicy brushstrokes. Roses are one of my favorite things to paint, so I’ve started growing a few at our home. They’re beautiful but this variety is particularly fleeting, with each bloom only lasting a day or so.

Last but not least is a Santa rose plum from our tree. If you took a bite you’d find a bright crimson interior and be surprised with the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness.

Thanks for your understanding while I sort out a tangled nest of emotions.

This is a moment where I feel fortunate to have so many random hobbies. Ceramics, Painting, Running, Dabbling in Piano, and Crocheting are all things that require one to put your phone down, step away from the news, and use both hands to do. While meditation has never been something that comes naturally to me, all of those things quiet my mind and help me find flow. This is my subtle elbow in your side to join in on the fun if you haven’t yet.

This little bird is a recent painting, and is one that I think/hope strikes a chord for those of us clinging onto hope and the last bit of light in a dark space.

Bear with me, I don’t know where this post is going to go, but just need an outlet to vent while simultaneously sharing latest creations with the world. Thank goodness this app allows long form content because there’s a lot in my head that needs to be released.

Today is the 23rd of January, 2025. Three days since trump has been inaugurated, tragically on MLK day. TikTok has been banned then brought back again with a fatal musk-zombie bite, and is now another form of propaganda for the far right. Other previously beloved platforms like Facebook and Instagram suffer from the cruel infection as well as the oligarchy has come together like a slimy team of Lex Luthers to gain even more money and power. I’ve decided to pack my bags and leave all of those places, even though Instagram especially is critical for my art business to survive.

Saying goodbye to over 100k followers wasn’t easy. But I’ll be damned if I’m even a tiny percentage of a reason that anyone stays there. It’s currently being heavily censored and is no longer a safe place. If you continue to use any meta apps I urge you to 1: get the f out of there or 2: proceed with extreme caution and go through your privacy settings to at least attempt to protect your data.

Every hour is just some new breaking news that is soul crushing and designed to just have our sanity questioned and our minds defeated. Don’t let it be that way. I say this while I am personally frozen on the couch wavering between having a shred of hope and depression. But also, get your heads out of the sand, please. We need to be very aware of what’s going on, and it’s exhausting to be in a world where everyone is closing their eyes to it all.

I’m aimless. I don’t know where to go, I don’t know how to keep my business alive, and my husband is between jobs. My head isn’t in the game, it’s just struggling to keep moving tbh, a win is doing any sort of exercise, getting dressed, and keeping the animals alive. Which btw our cats are not well and racking up vet bills and our hearts. How do I start from scratch? I feel like all the windows and doors have been slammed shut and there’s no easy way to communicate or see out into the world.

You might think I’m being dramatic, but TikTok was an amazing app. Much more than what you’re thinking, if you never gave it a try. It was much more than tide pod challenges (which I literally never saw on my years of being on there), and vain videos of influencers. We were always first to see news from actual citizens in other places. Much of the mainstream news was actually just cherry picking from TikTok. We also created a safe space, especially for neurodivergent folk, and the overall vibe was very fun, curious, and raw. It felt like a real community, even though I wasn’t a very active creator. I genuinely cared for it.

I’ve been trying Bluesky. Having it be a public and open source app it seems like the best chance of not having it be taken over by the far right. Many people are working feverishly to quickly improve it and create new apps for image and video sharing. In just a few short days they created a TikTok competitor. Huge thanks to those behind the scenes working so hard.

But it’s not great. I selfishly want more people to join since I think that’s how it will improve, but I also know most people will probably not like it.

So here I am. Back at tumblr. Back to where it all nearly began. Happy to see more artwork here, and hoping it can bring back that spark to create.

Fall colors are just about at its prime where we live in Northern California. I’ve been waiting for this scene to “ripen” for the past few weeks and wow it didn’t disappoint. 

Well hello new and old friends! Like many disgruntled artists out there, I’m on the search for a more sane and less horrible social media source. Is Tumblr going to make a comeback?  First of all, if you don’t know who I am, how dare you? Jk, I’m just a Californian painter that loves observing, learning and sharing. Sometimes (okay, a lot of) oversharing. If you’re less into what I have to say or who I am you might want to meander over to my Instagram account where I’ll keep things short and to the point.

This painting is a 9″x12″ oil painting on a YES! multimedia canvas. I only state that because it’s not the norm, and it was an interesting experience. You can see even in the photo that the paint sucked in all the paint, as this photo was taken a day after painting and the black looks matte and dry. I didn’t hate it, but not sure if I’m going to run and buy a bunch more.