Surrounded by farmland in Baltimore County, Charles Macsherry and Lucile Martin turn their inspiration into art.
They are husband and wife, married for 34 years, who typically share side-by-side booths at some of the most prestigious art shows in the nation, including those sponsored by Rose Squared. Find them at the Fall Brookdale Art Show on Oct. 15-16.
Martin makes jewelry. Macsherry paints. They share a home surrounded by lovely gardens with their black Lab, Pistol, but most of the time they’re in the barn that houses both of their studios.
“Marti is on one side on the upper level and my studio is on the other side. We share a bathroom!” Macsherry says. Pistol treks back and forth, though favors the calmer conditions and lower AC temperature in Martin’s studio.
“In mine he tends to get a tail full of paint,” Macsherry says.
Martin began dabbling in jewelry as a teenager and in her early 20s worked for a designer of children’s clothing. That introduced her to trade shows — huge venues that she realized would be ideal for selling her work.
“That kept me busy for 18 years,” says Martin, who also sold in galleries and operated a store for a while in the Mount Washington section of Baltimore. That allowed her to stay home with her two sons when both were little.
Her early work centered on making large neck cuffs and exaggerated designs, far different from the smaller scale that is her signature today.
“I like the extremes,” she says. “Now you would say my work is super delicate and little, but I hope it still has a similar voice.”
Martin is self-taught and inspired by most everything in her orbit. The smallest details in life make positive impressions on her. She regards jewelry as the unspoken language of happy.
“There is a magic and mystery in how a small, simple object can be a catalyst,” she says.
Macsherry credits his grade school art teachers for recognizing his potential. He attended a high school that had a strong art department before going on to study painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Martin’s aunt, an interior designer, asked if he would paint a table base to look like marble for a client. He was soon creating distinctive paintings for her clients’ homes and that later morphed into a career. Like Martin, he started on a large scale — murals were among his early works — and evolved into working on smaller canvases. He specializes in every level of decorative art.
“My own work is exclusively abstract,” he says. “It’s quite contemplative work with a lot of layers going on in it. It’s about creating something or the beginning of something.”
They talk shop regularly when they’re not working. Martin does as many as 30 shows a year and Macsherry joins her at most. Logistics dominate much of their discussion though neither is unabashed to weigh in on the other’s art.
“I’m happy to let him know what I think he should do,” Martin admits.
“I can be suggestive from time to time,” Macsherry adds.
They are happy to be part of the Rose Squared shows and will be doing the Verona Park in spring 2023 also. Martin has known Rose Squared Executive Director Robin Markowitz for many years. “She knows what we want out of a show,” Martin says. “Rose Squared shows have a great reputation in the industry.”
