Mary Martin Galleries of Fine Art

New York City. The city that never sleeps. Where fortunes are made and lost on Wall Street. It is against this backdrop that the son of an Italian immigrant is slowly being forged, taking the shape of the artist he will become. A childhood illness and the cold and grey winters of the city confine Larry to the indoor world. In this solitude skills are being developed, drawing and coloring, eye and hand coordination, color sense all are panting inevitably forward.
The family soon relocates to south Florida in the hopes that the warmer climate will improve Larry’s health and well-being. Their hopes are soon realized. The cool breezes and salt air form the blue Atlantic Ocean effect the cure that was hoped for. Larry will spend the next decade basking in the sun and salt immersing himself in the surfing lifestyle, leaving behind the sickly past and embracing health and vigor not to mention a world class tan!
Larry’s method of painting does not follow traditional teaching. He always starts in one place, the eye or beak of a bird, and focuses intensely on that one area, taking it to completion. Moving outward usually in one direction he will draw and paint to completion each corresponding field. “I like to draw as I go and frequently just paint without an under-drawing to guide me. This fly by the seat of my pants approach can be scary. The fear of ruining a painting drives me. I don’t think I can put it into words exactly, but I need a measure of fear to produce good work. I try to grow as an artist with each piece, extending my grasp of watercolor techniques trying to improve.”
Sitting on an old desk chair form the 1950’s and at a simple desk he paints for hours at a time. “I usually wind up standing over my painting bent in half or with one knee on the chair. I’m not sure when this started but it is part of me now.”
People often want to know why a particular bird or tree is chosen and Larry’s answer is a simple one: “Because I like it and want to paint it.” He will tromp through the woods looking at hundreds of trees until he finds the right one. For the main subject (which is usually birds) simple backyard birds are his favorite, especially small songbirds. “These are birds that most people see every day and are often ignored, and yet what an empty world it would be without them!” Who hasn’t sat at an outdoor restaurant and not seen a sparrow? “I really like these small birds. Take a moment and see how a child reacts when they see them. I think we should all try to see things like a child does…like it is the first time. I painted an osprey with the wings unfurled and I titled it Above the Noise. The noise from life often crowds out simple pleasure or blurs our sight form the beauty of backyard birds.”
Larry currently resides in Florida with his wife Linda, their jack russell-beagle mix dog Budman and their three-legged cat named Boomerang that he and Linda found badly injured and rescued.