Martinsville Studio Offers Artistic Opportunities

In recent years, budget cuts in school districts across the nation have seen arts and creative programs be some of the first to fall by the wayside.

But that does not mean there are no avenues for those who desire to learn about art, and one happens to be situated in Martinsville.

, owned by professional painter and art instructor Jamie Lindholm, was opened after Lindholm and her husband started a family and moved to Martinsville from New York City.

“We did not want to raise [our son] in the shadow of all those tall buildings,” she said. “He needed grass and trees.”

Soon, Lindholm gave up working full-time from home to focus on having art become her sole profession. The Martinsville Studio functions partially as Lindholm’s own art studio, where she works on commissioned portraits for anyone, from families to the Somerset County Person of the Year.

Primarily, though, the studio functions as a teaching space, where art students of all ages and experience levels can come and learn from an internationally-known teacher.

“I have students that range in age from 9 to 89, and we really concentrate on foundational studies,” Lindholm said. “The younger students always start out with drawing. It’s all about line and value and, once they get that down, then they move to color and they can move to painting if they want, or they can move to colored pencil.”

“In the summer, I open [the studio] up for workshops and special classes,” she added.

All of Lindholm’s students have certain “a-ha!” moments in which Lindholm, like any teacher, takes a great deal of pride.

“It’s when it finally clicks, when they finally see, that’s what I tell them I’m teaching them," she said. "It’s not really how to draw, it’s really how to see, how to see the lines, how to see the value and how to manipulate the tools."

“You can tell when, all of a sudden, they get it, and then they know that no matter what they look at, if they use the tools, they can draw whatever they want," she added. "Even if they want to take this classical training and create cartoons, they can do it because they’ve learned how to see.”

This connection, alongside the declining number of art programs available to school-aged students, is what has brought the Martinsville Studio approximately 40 students—and counting.

“It’s been very popular," Lindholm said. "It surprises more people that I talk to. They say, ‘Jamie, how’s the business going?’ with the way the economy is. It’s been fabulous."

“The more they cut programs and funding from the schools, unfortunately the arts programs and creative programs are the first ones to get cut," she added. "That happens and I get busier.”

Lindholm is getting so busy, in fact, that she may soon need a bigger space to house all of her painting projects and eager students.

“I’ve almost out-grown the space, to tell you the truth, so I don’t know, actually, how it’s going to morph,” she said. “It is growing, I’m busier and busier. We still have some growing room in here, but I could see in the not-so-distant future that I might need some more space.”

For more information on Lindholm and her work, visit her website.