marthaiserman.com
I am a watercolor artist and science illustrator from Minneapolis, Minnesota, currently working in Belgrave Heights Australia. My background is in scientific illustration and I’ve worked in various research institutions and museums in America. My experiences working with biologists and researchers has greatly influenced my work today. My house growing up in Minnesota was on the edge of a marshland. I’d spend my summers capturing various critters to spend an afternoon in a jar or shoebox, with a few sticks and leaves for ambiance. Lizards, insects, frogs, and even the occasional snake would suffer a confusing hour or two being observed by a curious kid who would inevitably feel guilty. I would return them to their original location, often with an apology and an extra yummy leaf for their troubles as everyone knows any animal smaller than a hand loves to eat leaves. Eventually, I began drawing my little creatures and incorporating them into habitats. I felt all the little ‘bits of the natural world deserved attention and by scribbling their likeness in crayons I was paying them respect. I didn’t know it at the time, but this would become my career and the driving force behind my work. My paintings are my love letter to all the little ecosystems I explored as a kid and to the other tiny tucked-away corners of the natural world that I have yet to observe. I create art as a way to interpret the underlying systems in history, language, and nature. I love complex overlapping stories and visuals. I am passionate about preserving natural history through imagery while finding new and exciting ways to depict familiar subjects. Watercolor allows me to get the level of detail I love while building translucent layers of color. I have found boundless inspiration from the ecosystem in the Dandenong Hills. Living in a fern tree forest, surrounded by hills and streams, and visited by exotic parrots and bushy-tailed possums has been a dream. It has inspired me to work on a series of watercolor illustrations of flora and fauna of the local ecosystem.
