We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful David Martinez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with David below.

Hi David , thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I know we don’t get to choose family, but I ended up with two of the best parents any young aspiring artist could have. They always nurtured my love of art, through supplies, trips to the museums and constant support and encouragement. When I was 9 years old my father enrolled me and my older sister in an art class at the local cultural center. My dad took me to a paint supply store that also sold art supplies. He purchased drawing pads, charcoal pencils, watercolor paints and some canvases. I remember glancing at the sales receipt, and it totaled $20. Mind you that was a lot of money when I was 9 years old, and we didn’t have a lot of money to spend on non-essentials. I told my dad that was a lot of money and he just looked at me and said, “if one of you becomes an artist then that would be totally worth it”. I always carry that with me, whenever I experience a milestone or achievement with my art. I think of my parent’s sacrifice and their constant love and support. It was the perfect environment to grow up in. As my art career continued to grow, they were there every step of the way. My parents offered me insight, advice and continued praise. My father who had a lifetime of experience, was a master problem solver and an artisan in his own right was a constant source guidance both professionally and creatively. My mother would never fail to give her honest critique and well as rolling up her sleeves and lending a hand to help me meet my deadlines. They gave me everything I needed to succeed; I am deeply indebted to them.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I consider myself first and foremost a fine artist, specifically a painter. How I define that is, I am an artist that paints what inspires me and that is what I sell. The hope is someone else will connect with the imagery as much as I did. To be able to create this way is incredibly rewarding personally but not always professionally. I always think of Vincent Van Gogh, who was very much a fine artist, he painted exactly what he wanted and even though he did not sell a lot of work during his lifetime he created some the most beautiful artwork the world has ever seen. It is such a tremendous honor for me to sell my work to people and know that it will be appreciated and cherished. I think this one of the greatest honors an artist can have. Even though I have been selling my work for the past 20 years, it still resonates and means a great deal to me.
The name of our company is EastLosArte. The reason for this is my work and the work of EastLosArte is truly a collaborative effort between me and my wife Velia Garcia-Martinez. I know I don’t exist in a vacuum, so neither does the art that I produce. Velia has been very key in my journey as an artist, two artists that I have met and apprenticed with I met both through my wife. The other key element of this collaboration is Velia has introduced me to many aspects of our culture that were unknown to me. She has shared her love and knowledge of our Mexican culture and that continues to inspire and guide my artwork. We call it EastLosArte because we are both from East Los Angeles, California and much of work is inspired directly from that particular culture from Southern California. It is both a connection and pride in where we came from.
The best way to describe my work would be figurative or representational in its execution, but the style and figure rendering would be more akin to Michelangelo, Sargent, Lalo Garcia and George Yepes with my own unique spin on it. Since I paint what I love and what inspires me, my subject matter is quite varied. From day of the dead figures, musical, pop, political and historical icons. I have one foot in American Pop culture and one foot firmly planted in Mexican Culture. Every artist I feel is a filter and their artwork is created through that filter. I am no different in that way, my world view is rooted proudly in both cultures and my own unique experiences.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I have a theory on artists of any kind, for an artistic/creative person to be happy they need to be able to express themselves creatively. Getting the opportunity to be creative is such a source of happiness for me. It doesn’t need to be an epic or large painting, it just needs to an idea or inspiration that I can physically manifest into an artwork. The other rewarding aspect of being an artist is getting to share that work with others. I know how important this is for both the artist and the audience. I appreciate all kinds of arts, the fine arts, music, movies, literature, etc. so getting to share in that dynamic from both perspectives is incredibly satisfying.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The interesting thing about being an artist is the need to be able to deal with rejection and adversity. Most artists experience this on a regular basis for the most part. That being said I am sure there are the rare few artists that may experience little rejection and they are the fortunate few. The majority of artists I have gotten to know, deal with this on a pretty regular basis. You can’t let the rejection interfere with the actual creative process or your journey as an artist. The best thing to do is to find the positive in it and learn from any negative situation if possible. I have been very fortunate, and my artwork has found an audience that continues to grow and be supportive. Hearing compliments, praise and sales of your artwork is the counterbalance to the rejection of your work, and one helps keep the other in perspective. I have been rejected from art school, galleries and juried art shows, but I have also been accepted to other galleries, I have had my work acquired by collectors, museums and I have been accepted to other galleries and experienced successes with art fairs. With regards to art school, even with that experience I would continue to paint because that is I would do regardless. What it did allow me to do was seek out artists and continue my studies in a nontraditional manner which allowed me to express myself in my own unique way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eastlosarte.com
• Instagram: Eastlosarte
• Facebook: Eastlosarte Galeria and Artisan Shop

Image Credits
All images of the artwork and intellectual property belong to David Arthur Martinez