A Coastal Bend woman decided to quit her job as a server to become an artist. She paints murals and on garage doors out on Padre Island to showcase the beauty of the oceans and sea life.
Leah Martin was born and raised in Corpus Christi , and made ends meets working as a waitress. She began painting in 2018 and sold her piece at the Padre Island art gallery for the first time in 2021 and then she quit her day job to pursue art full time.
“I didn’t know where the money was going to come in the middle of a pandemic. I didn’t know what life held for me," said Martin.
Martin said she has learned a lot from her clients and says its been a rewarding journey. “And ever since then I have been busy painting murals all over the city, canvases, selling my artwork in the Padre Island art gallery," said Martin. Martins work does not stop there
“We thought that if we could have a mural on our garage, it would happ-ify our place and wake up the street," said one of Martin's clients Dana Duncan Shuster. “The flowers are replicas of the flowers we lost during the freeze, so we are happy to get permanent ones back," said Shuster.
Martin also shares her beautiful art work on farley boats out in Port Aransas. “After Harvey, the destruction that happened destroyed things like that. The farley boats all of the beautiful paint jobs were washed away," said Martin. Martin said at the end of the year she is donating a portion of her proceeds to various organizations to raise awareness for ocean conservation.
“As they say what goes around comes around and it makes us feel good to know that someone is invested in our community as we invest in her," said Shuster.
“I do my best to do what I can, I am one person, what can one person do but together we’re a group, so I take my paintings and that’s what I have and I give them. We do silent auctions so I’ll put my paintings in and people will bid on them and whatever they make goes towards those organizations," said Martin.
Martin thanks all of her clients for trusting her and the padre island art gallery where she first found her true passion. “It’s just the beauty that you get to look at and experience everyday that I am trying to create for everyone and I want everyone to see it," said Martin.
To get a quote for Leah Martin's work visit her Instagram or website.
