Martha Collins

"It is the interplay of pattern that excites me, the different colors, grains and textures of the various species of woods with the veneer that I dye. Repeating patterns, moving lines, bold statements in each unique,one of a kind works of art."

The goal of Martha Collins is to create personal, unique, 3-dimensional works of art with exotic hardwoods and brightly colored veneers. She looks for color, texture, and grain in the hardwoods and accentuates these with veneer that she hand-dyes. The artist uses woods only from sustainable yield forests.

Collins shows three distinct styles of work: The Helical Mosaic, the Linear Mosaic and the Bold Mosaic. The Helical Mosaic creates pattern that moves through the piece. The Linear Mosaic pattern is made of layers of laminate that is repeated and folded back upon itself to create a wooden fabric. The Bold Mosaic pieces are of a simpler design and strikingly dramatic because of the size of the mosaic pieces.

After graduate school in the early 1970s, Collins worked for a short interim as a carpenters assistant. She was fortunate to be trained by the State of Michigan at the State Technical and Rehabilitation Institute in cabinetmaking.