Hello, world!
HMM Newsletter
Volume 1 – October 2022
Thank you for signing up for my newsletter. I hope this first EVER volume finds you well!
My name is Heather Martin, and I am an artist and permaculture gardener. My paintings, photography, and permaculture work all tie together around nature and good food.
I hope to inspire the world to treasure nature and appreciate its beauty, magic, and significance. If you want to read more about my background and interests, check out the About page of my website.
What’s New?
Quick Harvests
My newest blog post is up on my site and available for reading. In Quick Harvests, I talk about some of our favorite perennials and trees that have produced for us in about a year or less. Starting a permaculture food forest can seem daunting. Building soil and getting mature fruit trees takes time, but these plants can help keep you motivated as you start your own permaculture journey.
Read Quick Harvests and other permaculture content by visiting my website.
Surf Photos
Tyler recently caught some dreamy morning waves. Check out the Recent Images section of my Photography Gallery for a look at scenes of greens and golds! This photo is one of my favorites:
Abuela en el Jardín
I recently completed this 18” x 24” oil on canvas board of my paternal grandmother walking along a palm-lined pathway at Fairchild Gardens in Miami, FL. I think a lot of the way I see nature comes from her, the way I could sit outside for hours and let my imagination wonder at the beauty of it all. Simple sights like a bee visiting a flower, a mushroom fit for a toad stool, or a hole in a tree where a creature may live, all evoke a sense of fantastical whimsy when I see them in the imaginative way that I learned from her. This painting pairs with a similar portrait I did of my late paternal grandpa at the same garden on the same day. Their lives, and mine, have always been and always will be about plants.
Ode to Black Cherry Tomatoes
When Tyler and I first started growing our own food, one of the first heirloom varieties of tomato seeds we bought from the local nursery were black cherry tomatoes. We successfully grew them, and that was kind of it: we were hooked. A small tomato with a purplish magenta hue, with splashes of yellow orange and green, and with indescribable flavor. Rich, sweet, and juicy, it almost seems more grape than tomato. Ever since, our goal has been to grow such variety of delicious foods as we can, following the principles of permaculture.
Original 3” x 3” oil on canvas
Available in my store in the Original Paintings category
Prints under $50
I recently added a new more affordable print type to my store. Dream prints of my artwork are now available. Read more about the difference between Fine Art archival prints and Dream prints in the Artwork Prints category of my online store.
I will be adding Dream prints of my photography shortly, so stay tuned.
Local Happenings
Nature’s Art and Garden Supply
You can currently find the following prints and other products, as well as all your plant care and soil needs, at Nature’s Art and Garden Supply, located here in Melbourne, FL. Once these sell, I will be selling other additional prints available at this location, so check them out while you can!
Rockledge Gardens
I am excited to announce that I will be a vendor at the Rockledge Gardens Art Walk event this fall!
November 16, 2022
4:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Rockledge Gardens
2153 U.S. 1, Rockledge, FL 32955
I’ll send out another reminder and additional information as the date nears. Hope to see you there!
In Progress
Palms in a Row
I recently started working again on this 16” x 40” oil on canvas. One of many beautiful scenes from Fairchild Gardens in Miami, FL, the line of palms against a shadowy jungle background especially caught my eye, so much so that I needed to preserve it on canvas.
I am looking forward to completing this work and sharing it with you.
Garden Magic
I encounter some form of garden magic every day. Seeing a bumble bee on a flower of the native spiderwort I planted makes me almost cry with joy. Seeing a new mushroom or fungus pop up under the right conditions causes me to run for my camera. In this section, I will share some of these magical moments with you!
Baby Squirrel Rescue
Tyler and I recently rescued a baby squirrel from the middle of the street, and were able to reunite it with its mother! I wrote about the experience in a Twitter thread, so check it out when you can. In the meantime, here’s a photo of the baby squirrel sleeping in the makeshift nest we made to keep it warm until morning.
Palmetto Weevil
We recently had to have a cabbage palm removed because it was being overtaken by an invasive Schefflera tree, and it was in a precarious spot over our house (don’t worry, we’ll be planting more trees to make up for it). Since then, we have witnessed what looks like the bug form of Darth Maul flying around and hanging about the palm stumps we kept behind.
This bug is called a palmetto weevil, and it is not so evil as it looks and, coincidentally, as its name sounds. In fact, it is more dinosaur than Sith Lord!
“Fossil records suggest that the palmetto weevil was present in Florida during the Pleistocene (about 1 million years ago).”
Final Thoughts
I greatly appreciate you for signing up, and want to offer you a 10%* discount. Just visit the Shop page and use the code PALMETTOWEEVIL during checkout. A portion of each purchase is donated to various conservation organizations, depending on the work of art selected. Details are found in the description of each item.
I want nature to benefit from my art, in order to help preserve that which inspires me.
-HM
*Applies to the following categories: Artwork Prints, Photography Prints, and Products. Does not apply to Original Paintings. Applies to purchases made through online store only. Limited to one use per customer. Expires October 31, 2022.
