JANE C. MARTIN

I found the literal meaning of coloring outside the lines in kindergarten.  Watching how others moved their crayons inside each shape, some light, others inconsistent pressure leaving blotches.  The ones with dark lines around the edge shaded lightly were my favorite.  They were organized and pleased with something inside of me, and if I was really patient, I could do that, but I’m not usually.  What if I added pressure when I put the color to the paper.  My average-child-sized-body put its weight behind the force of the crayon.  The dark marks left were thick, and left sprinkles of wax all over the desk.  Faintly, I saw the marks begin to grow thin borders of grease around the waxy edges.  As my fingers slid over the bumps that had been worn down into a barely-there-topography, I sat back, pleased with my work.  

It was a beautiful, natural moment of my neurodivergent learning process.

I am a learner of learners.  I have spent my educational and professional career trying to maneuver my way through the lens of the neurotypical. As a veteran teacher, I’ve “left the classroom” for the third time, after the realization that I could actually apply the advice, I repeatedly gave to my students, to my own life. 

I have rediscovered my intense self-affirming love through reflecting on my own natural learning process.  Uninhibited experimentation with acrylic paints and inks have allowed my “teacher brain” to make notes about which color combinations exude intense warmth, and which textures can represent my purest anger.  If I am curious, I let the mediums interact and I observe, and take note.       

When I’m inspired, I let my imagination run wild on canvas.  I am able to dream up still frames that only exist for milliseconds before my neurons are on to the next color or pattern. This can create chaos, but it also inspires moments of a landscape in one corner, while the anatomy of a bumblebee leg sprints into the view, with random marks in the most beautiful shade of sea foam green. Vines spring out of my paintbrush all while dancing through a blue puddle of paint that leaves it drops and drips in every direction. The play leaves an ecosystem that only exists inside of my brain, until now.

——     Jane began her painting practice in May of 2023, the same month she left the classroom to pursue a career in program development.  While she calls Columbus, Ohio her home, she has lived in Wilmington, VT, Jacksonville, FL, and all over Massachusetts.  A non-traditional college student, Jane graduated from Middlesex Community College with an A.A. in Life Sciences and a concentration in studio arts.  Upon graduation, she left her job of seven years at Jordan’s Furniture to move across the state to Smith College in Northampton.  After graduating with a B.S. in biology and a minor in marine science, she became a classroom teacher.  Finding her passion in educational justice, her career in program development and career mentorship flourished. Jane currently advises students at Columbus College of Art and Design and lives in Milo Arts Community.