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Martin Shear

Martin Shear is a self-taught artist who works as a custodian at an elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, by day and paints, from photographs, on small, pre-stretched canvas in acrylic by night. His family’s home is filled with dozens and dozens of paintings that measure 8 × 10 inches, as well as a handful of even smaller ones placed on shelves. Some of these paintings are made from postcards depicting the Nashville skyline, because the skyline is pretty and familiar, while other paintings depict his wife’s guitars because he likes painting guitars and Betsy owns quite a few.

Like other artists who have chosen to live far from the Chelsea galleries, he regularly posts his paintings on Facebook and Instagram. His paintings are just the right scale for documenting with his Samsung Galaxy 6 and posting on social media sites. Friends and strangers see and like his work: they give him encouragement and, sometimes, they reach out to him about purchasing a piece. Essentially, Shear is happier than you are. You’re way too fucking precious about your work.