ABOUT

Martina (they/them)

Martina is a fat, queer, trans, non-binary, and neurodivergent artist & library worker living in Sonoma County, California. Their artwork reflects their spirit and acts as a portal into another world where anything is possible. Martina often releases their art into the world like a spell for anyone that encounters it; to find healing, to dream, to explore magic, and more. They hope you’ll stick around to see what comes next!


The Full Story

From the Beginning

Martina has been making and creating art since they were a child. As a young child, their favorite thing to make was something they called “omelettes” — paint globbed onto paper, folded in half and unfolded to reveal a colorful Rorschach-type design. They can still recall the feel of the squishy paint between the damp paper folds. Art was a way of connecting with their senses and surroundings.

In 2012, Martina graduated from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco with a BFA in Illustration. But art school burn-out is real, and they stopped making art regularly for almost a decade.

Discovering Their Spirituality

Martina grew up with religion, but spent most of their young life as an atheist. It wasn’t until fall 2017, when the veil was thin, that they discovered that spirituality can be more than just prayer or belief. It can be connected to nature and its natural phenomena. It can be about energy and intuition. And above all, it can be about connection to all things, living and spiritual.

With the help of a therapist & tarot cards, Martina began developing and nurturing a relationship with their intuition. It was a spiritual connection they had often hoped for, but did not know how to attain. Who knew all it took was listening to themself?? Easier said than done, right? Lol!

Reclaiming Their Artist Identity

The COVID-19 pandemic pretty much changed everything. Martina was forced to slow down in a way they never have before. They unearthed many deeply hidden things within, like their sexuality, their gender, and their identity.

Then, in March 2022, Martina participated in the Resourcing the Creative Self (RTCS) Workshop by The Moon Studio. During this 3-week long intensive, Martina unleashed their creative force like never before! For months, Martina had felt pulled toward creating art again, but did not know how to make that a reality. When the opportunity for the workshop appeared, it felt like the answer they had been waiting for.

In the workshop, Martina explored concepts such as Art as Magic, Art as Healing, and Art as Spirituality. Finally, so many dots were connected — the way back to their art practice was through their innate magic and spirituality. What a gift!

MARTINAMONSTER ART is born!

Welcome to Martina’s journey through the portal that is art, healing, love, and magic! Martina’s artwork reflects their spirit and acts as a portal into another world where anything is possible. In 2023, Martina learned about zines and created their very first one! The process was incredibly gratifying for them. In 2024, after fulfilling their dream of gender affirming surgeries and re-entering the world as their fully-formed authentic self, Martina met more and more queer and creative folks, which brought them so much inspiration. Martina has continued to make zines and shares them as much as possible. They are deeply inspired by others’ creativity and ability to be vulnerable in sharing their art. Martina strives for this as much as possible now, finally ready to be seen.

Mailing List

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