Martha Flores
Painter & Poet
Born in Santa Ana, El Salvador, Martha Flores immigrated to California in 1962 where she enrolled at California State University and received both a Masters in Fine Arts and a Masters in Psychology. Flores formerly published two books of poetry in Spanish, Piel de Barro and Cuentos en Rima. The Immensity of Our Essence: Paintings and Poetry marks her first full publication in English and the first displaying her poetry alongside her paintings. It spotlights Flores’s journey from the 80’s forward, through divorce and remarriage, from blind patriotism to disillusionment. Aside from many accomplishments in the arts spanning a variety of mediums, Flores worked as a mental health counselor for 30 years. Flores has called Wenatchee, Washington her home since December 1992, where she displays and teaches art across the valley.
Part 1 – Introduction
Meet Martha Flores, a painter and poet based in East Wenatchee, WA. Martha immigrated to the United States from El Salvador in 1962 and moved to the Wenatchee Valley in 1992. She has both a Masters in Fine Arts and a Masters in Psychology. In this video she shares how art was a big part of her life since she was a child.
Part 2 – Art Show: The Immensity of Our Essence
Martha talks about presenting her art at art shows and how she incorporates her paintings and poetry into single works of art.
Part 3 – What message do you want to convey?
Martha talks about how her work often has a meaning, especially her series, and how her poetry will explain her art. She hopes viewers take a message of an emotion and how she interprets what is going on in the world through her art.
Part 4 – Support the Arts!
Martha talks about the importance of supporting local artists and galleries that are in the Wenatchee Valley to see local art. She also shares her advice for students and educators about bringing more art into their school work.
Part 5 – Examples of Work
Martha shares two examples of her work including the “Children in Cages” series and “The Immensity of our Essence”.
Part 6 – More Examples in the “Gallery”
Martha shares more of her work with us including “The Emerging Woman” series and explains the evolution of the series over the years. She also shows us her “I am the Earth” and “I am the Ocean” pieces. We then take a look at a number of other pieces of art.
Part 7 – Demo: Intro for Students
Use this video to introduce Martha to your students! Martha talks about her “I am the Earth” project and walks students through a quick lesson in how to get started with their own paintings.
The NCESD Early Learning team has prepared a lesson plan for you to use in your classroom that was inspired by Martha’s work. You can view the document below or click the “pop out” button in the top right corner to open it in a new tab to download the PDF file.
