Marty Engle presenting an original oil painting

About

About the artist

Marty Engle paints gothic romance, human longing, and monsters with hearts.

I have been painting since I was 11 years old, beginning oil painting lessons at a local senior center after showing an early love and aptitude for art.

Marty Engle presenting an original oil painting

From there I went to art school in Atlanta, where I developed my design and illustration skills. I have taken long breaks from the easel to move across the country twice, raise twin girls, author two paranormal mystery book series, and move from fine art into commercial design and media as a creative director, then back again to painting.

I am a born storyteller, both with the brush and with words on a page. I believe in making art that connects with our deepest shared emotions: love and longing, introspection, hope, fear, transcendence, and the private mythologies we carry around inside us.

Whether you are decorating a private parlor, a dreamy bedroom, a minimalist space that wants one striking image, or simply looking for something that captures part of your own story, I want the work to feel personal and to speak back.

I have spent years studying Sorolla, Sargent, Zorn, and others to refine my palette and style, using experience, intuition, and deep focus: feeling every stroke, scraping, striking, and recomposing until the image finally sings.

I hope you find a special connection with the work. That is the point, for me, anyway. Connecting through our hearts and minds to share mutual experience.

Current galleries

Marty Engle artwork displayed at a Holler House gallery event

Holler House Gallery

509 State St
Bristol, VA 24201
United States

Marty Engle artwork displayed at Those Who Bloom gallery

Bloom Gallery

230 State Hwy 32
Thomas, WV 26292
United States

Me, the Studio, and the Process

Real oil. Real canvas. Real mess. Real story.

Before any print exists, there is a drawing, a palette, a studio light, a canvas on the easel, and hours of oil paint being pushed around by hand. Come and hang out with me.

Oil paint palette in Marty Engle studio
Palette and paint
Oil painting on an easel in Marty Engle studio
Canvas on the easel
Early sketch stage for a Marty Engle oil painting
The drawing underneath
Avalon painting in progress in Marty Engle studio
Avalon in progress
Mothman oil painting progress in Marty Engle studio
Mothman in progress
Finished creature oil painting by Marty Engle
Creature, finished by hand
Marty Engle art booth display with original paintings
Booth and show setup
Hand-painted originalsEvery painting begins as a raw emotion, an idea, a spark of something to relate to.
Studio-built imagesSketches, reference, brushwork, revisions, and finished canvases all live in the process.
Made to shareThe work is very human: a story made of shared deep feelings on the canvas and behind the scenes, presented with an unspoken trust with the viewer.