Where Conservation and Art Meet with Issac Martinez

Canjilon, NM, artist Isaac Martinez visits with Farm & Ranch Show host, Sage Faulkner, about growing up in northern NM and the wildlife and outdoors that have influenced his art.  He feels that art is a tool for conservation and his is a stark reminder of the importance of the wildlife that call this area home.  

For more information, please go to www.chamapeak.org!

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00: 0:34

Greetings, everyone. This is Sage Faulkner, Program Manager for Chama Peak Land Alliance. I'm also a small rancher in northern New Mexico and your host for the Farm and Ranch podcast. Thank you guys for making time to join us. The Farm and Ranch show is sponsored by Chama Peak Land Alliance. Membership is free. Find us at www.chamapeak.org. And you can also find us on your social media. We want to thank you for joining the Farm and Ranch Show, where we talk all things agriculture, especially the agriculture of the San Juan Chama Watershed. Chama Peak Land Alliance represents a land area that runs from the headwaters of the Navajo and the Conejos through Colorado to the Rio Chama headwaters and systems across northern Rio Riba County in New Mexico. The membership currently consists of a land block of approximately 200,000 acres, but it's continually growing and adding members. Our L.A. Elevation ranges from over 12,000 feet and the continental divide to down around 7,000 feet. The public benefits of conscientious, well-informed management on those private lands include clean water, food production, wildlife habitat, soil health, carbon sequestration, jobs, and strong local economies. The nation's rural landowners, its farmers, ranchers, forested landowners provide not only food and fiber for the world, but also a host of environmental benefits, including habitat for wildlife. Conservation efforts on these lands generate outdoor recreation and economic activity that result in sustained growth for local communities and landowners. As always, The opinions of the show are not necessarily those of Chamapeake Land Alliance or the guests. This is roughly our 107th show, and I'm really excited, folks. Today we have Isaac Martinez in the studio with us. And wildlife, art, and conservation all go hand in hand. For many of us, the art of the wildlife here is very special. My guest today is a local artist. Isaac comes from a family that has been in Conjilo, New Mexico for many decades. generations. Canjilón is a special place and one certainly filled with incredible wildlife and beautiful landscapes. I am looking forward to visiting with you today, Isaac. I know you'll share lots of information with our listeners about the incredible art that you make. Welcome. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_01: 3:07

Hi, Sage. Yes, I grew up in northern New Mexico and was raised here in Canjilón. I believe my family's been here for five generations. My family's been surrounded around the farm and ranch lifestyle in some form or another like many northern New Mexicans have. In my childhood, I've spent a lot of time in the summer and fall months on horseback in the forest with my grandfather and family, checking cows, fixing fences, harvesting hay, irrigating, which is a big part of the watershed restoration that you guys have been involved in. A big part of my artwork growing up has been in the winter checking cattle at Ghost Ranch on horseback. It's a rich environment for landscape and western art and concept art. and land stewardship. Some of my earliest childhood memories from there were as a kid playing cowboys in the corrals and finding in the dirt the old cow metal ear tags. The cows would dig them up and we'd bring them in. They've been buried there for generations, which is pretty cool. We would find some that would belong to my great-grandfather, Esmeraldo. Now looking back, that was a pretty special time. Those memories as a kid, we go back to what it would look like to that time and revisit it, what the landscape looked like, just the way it's always been. And fortunately here in northern New Mexico, and I would say New Mexico in general, has a whole lot of area that still resembles what it has been like for hundreds of years. It is still one of the few places left. It's still the closest to resembling that.

SPEAKER_00: 4:35

I love hearing your background and it makes me think of my kids in the acequias and floating down the ditch in front of the house and playing games across the hillside and the ridge behind the house. And I think that's probably one of the things that I'm thankful for is my kids getting to grow up here and see the things that you also grew up with and and the you know that family connection and the friendships made playing in the dirt those are special and I think they give you a foundation through the rest of your life so I love hearing this about you and the reason you're here is because of the amazing artwork that you do and I've been a fan for a long time let's talk a little bit about your artwork what type of artwork do you primarily do Isaac

SPEAKER_01: 5:17

yes sage the me Medium of paint I do is mainly oil paints and my subjects, they primarily consist of wildlife, western and landscape artwork. A lot of it, majority is from around here. I try to paint off of experiences and whether it be like real life experiences or historical or an imaginary scene that will give honor to value and preserve an animal, an area, a lifestyle I want to share. I like to paint as like a lot of the animals I grew up around, mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, eagles, big and other predators. And as you have said, like growing up, the childhood, we're exposed to a lot of that. Very blessed and grateful to be able to grow up in that type of environment. And the world's getting smaller in that way. And for us to cherish those memories and try to preserve that for future generations. I like to paint a lot of exotic animals that are in New Mexico as well, like ibex, oryx, barberry sheep. They're in the southern part of the state in some rugged and fascinating country. Coos deer have been something I've always been passionate about. about and I've enjoyed painting them recently. The places they call home in southwestern New Mexico and the Gila and Arizona. I've really enjoyed the opportunities to explore and learn that part of the world as well. Horses have always been a passion for me. I've grown up around horses and as well as many others who enjoy horses and the ranch and I paint a lot of western scenes involving moving cattle or just riding through some beautiful country. There is no shortage of subject matter here where we grew up and horses they give you they're like people they've got personalities of their own and experiences and they give you plenty of subject matter to paint.

SPEAKER_00: 6:55

Absolutely. And I love hearing the connection you have to that. When I think of your art, the pictures that come to my mind first are usually some of the mule deer pictures that you've done. And again, your wildlife and your landscapes and all of it are amazing. But what I think of you first and foremost is the mule deer pictures. And mule deer are really special. If folks are from Texas and they grew up around the whitetails, mule deer is just something completely different to me. And I love the way you capture the wildlife really excited to be able to have this platform and have you here and hopefully expose a few more people to the incredible artwork that you do so let's move on a little bit there's this really neat place where our worlds come together and that's the crossroads of conservation and artwork and i want to hear a little bit about why it's important to you

SPEAKER_01: 7:48

Yes, so the mule deer, I'm very passionate about mule deer and we're blessed with some of the best genetics for mule deer in this part of the world. The conservation efforts that you guys, I've been getting involved a lot lately and I still need to start delving into that and learning that. But the population, the thinning, the burning and all that, the stuff you guys have done with all of that has done tremendous improvements to the mule deer population I've noticed across northern New Mexico as a whole. So that's pretty good. to see and shows that that conservation is working. It's just, it's real nice to see. We all enjoy viewing the animals out in our yard and stuff or going out on horseback and picking up antlers and yeah, just seeing the animals throughout the year at their different stages of where they're at. So you had asked the crossroads of conservation and artwork. So conservation and artwork have benefited each other and art has always been a strong advocate for conservation. Art has played an important role in conservation because we find it beautiful and we find what we find beautiful and we find value in, we preserve and we steward. Like one example is America's first national park, which was Yellowstone. It was a project that began with a small group of outdoor enthusiasts, hunters, painters, people that just like to go out hiking, ranchers. They were seeking out to protect their favorite spaces. And art through the promotion of conservation and making it accessible for people to recognize and experience the value of preserving these spaces and the value people who don't understand aren't able to experience the natural world over here the way we do, the fragility of it, the value of preserving it and keeping it going for the next generation. They're able to experience it through their workspace and their home. And I think that's pretty important and that's a big correlation between the two. Art is conservation. It is what preserves nature. Nature is what inspires art. The conservation and landscape that's what provides a space for art and it's what like gives us to get out relax and reconnect take a break from our daily lives as a rancher and an artist it gives me the opportunity to preserve the lifestyle we live out in the field for others to experience through our eyes and for ourselves to enjoy from a piece of artwork hanging in our home or workspace to preserve a memory be it being on horseback or spending time in nature with loved ones that to me is the purpose of art artwork it's in uh we You've all got artwork in our house and it's different for everybody. It takes you to a family member that you miss. It takes you to a place, a time. You see they hang it in hotels, hospitals, everywhere. And it's been there for a long time. And I feel it's a big marketing tool for conservation and a promoter to share it with the rest of the world.

SPEAKER_00: 10:38

I love that. And I love especially personal thing, but I love the connection you place between being a rancher and then also being the artist that you are and being willing to share that perspective and as much as those of us that are are here in the thick of it appreciate northern New Mexico it's not an easy place to live you know there's there's not an abundance of opportunities to make a lot of money and so a lot of times you'll see somebody such as yourself or you ranch and you help your family but you also do the art because that's the opportunity for you to share your passion about those things and so I guess for me seeing that happen is very gratifying to see that that's what we do in Northern New Mexico. And so I wish you continued success as an artist and as a rancher. We see a lot of places where agriculture is not a big part of Northern New Mexico in that, you know, we don't have 30,000 head operations, but we have, all of us have some connection to our agriculture in smaller family operations. And I think like you were talking about earlier, it's that connection to the old ways. And it's a It's a way of being sustainable and taking care of your family and even to a degree, your neighbors and your community. And I just love getting to visit with you about what that conservation and artwork connection is for you. And I love how it ties back to your home. That's really neat. So let's talk a little bit more about your art. Isaac, what do you want people to know about your art? So we've got listeners here that maybe haven't seen you grow as an artist over the last couple of years. decade. What do you want people to know about your art?

SPEAKER_01: 12:24

Art in general, it's not an easy way to make a living. And that correlates a lot with what you said about the local farm and ranches in our area. And I'd say local farm and ranches in general, it's not getting easier. But most people, they have to go out and work other jobs and it's to preserve the ranch lifestyle and the values that come from it. It's the same as the value from all the efforts done of the conservation from the Chama Peak Land Alliance and all the other organizations involved in all the projects that we've got going on and continue to try to get going.

SPEAKER_00: 12:57

So what are some things that you want people to know about you and your art?

SPEAKER_01: 13:02

I'm going to answer that question in regards to conservation and art in my life experiences, sharing them with others. That question, it reminded me of one of my assignments from an apprenticeship I had done with a landscape artist. We were given the assignment to define what type of artist we wanted to be known for. And I went back to gathering cows at that old barn as a kid and Ghost Ranch, picking up those old metal cow ear tags from my great grandpa in the dirt. Going back in time where our imagination drifts during such moments to a time when the land belonged to God. That quote came from one of my favorite paintings from an artist named Charles Russell. He's a landscape and wildlife artist. And that painting, it hangs in my studio titled When the Land Belonged to God. It depicts bison in the distance with a trail of dust to the far horizon. And they're walking up on some coyotes and eating a dead carcass. and some ancient chewed logs from beaver dams along the riverbank the way they've been living for generations as far back as time and the painting itself is a pretty remarkable painting but that name really spoke to me and it's kind of the essence of conservation I would say yeah so that's what I kind of came up with being known as a painter of a time when the land belonged to God and for that class assignment and I think that in regards to art and conservation it I think it matches pretty well to what the Chama Peak Land Alliance is trying to do. and all the other organizations, all the hard work that they've dedicated to our communities. I'm the same. I want my art to be a tool in the conservation of the places where the animals and the people living off the land not only get to survive in, but thrive in as the way they've been doing for many generations. I think that is what all of us try to accomplish with conservation and land stewardship, holding the line for as much as we can for the next generation. And that includes our youth and the places and the animals involved. that we get to enjoy every day.

SPEAKER_00: 14:59

For our listeners joining us for this podcast, listening to Isaac talk about that has given me chills. You're talking about something that is really sacred and special in this area, and to see your art hang in places next to Mr. Russell's, and I think that the way you feel about this area and the way you portray it in your art, that's going to happen. And I think there's a really neat opportunity for us to continue to collaborate together in this this space where we share the ranching, we share the love for this community, and we share the interest in conservation. And then you have this incredible skill as an artist. And so I'm looking forward to continuing to work with you. We'll come back in a year and do another podcast and see where we're at. So we're going to just keep bouncing this back and forth. What are some of the projects that you have going currently?

SPEAKER_01: 15:51

Yeah, so I generally try to work on like 10 to 15 paintings, no more than 15. There's an endless subject matter of... paintings that I'd love to do but they take me about a year and a half to get done so I'll end up so I generally try to do around 10 to 15 paintings at a time and I'll switch around them. Right now I've got some mule deer, elk, some horseback scenes, some landscapes and it varies and I try to rotate it and I enjoy painting different subjects as well.

SPEAKER_00: 16:22

At the beginning of the podcast you talked a little bit about your career and you spent some time in the just quickly and say thank you for that service. Looking back on your life, what role do you feel like art has had in life for you?

SPEAKER_01: 16:40

I would say that my time away from home for as long as I can remember has been consumed by the outdoors and in the mountains in some form or the other. In the military, it was through artwork being away from home. My painting career started out by drawing at school animals, cowboys in mountain scenes, and I want to give a big thank you to all the teachers that would let me draw a in class, sometimes probably a little bit too much, the friends and family who have supported me in creating that space to do so and continue to invest in the future of our youth around the area. Spending time outdoors, fishing, hunting, learning how to fix fences, working on a ranch, doing hay or moving cows, just teaching us how to enjoy and be good stewards of the land and its resources. I would say I just enjoy being out in the ranch in the mountains like any of your viewers do, exploring areas and sharing it with like-minded people, learning from nature's Bible as much as we can. Art has been an avenue to share it with others and try to make a living to continue on getting out in the field as much as I can.

SPEAKER_00: 17:44

Isaac, tell our listeners how they can see some of your artwork.

SPEAKER_01: 17:50

I have most of my artwork on my website. It's IsaacMartinezArt.com, and it is spelled I-S-A-A-C, and then MartinezArt.com. It's fairly up to date, and it's got all my art that's available. I have prints of my artwork as well, and I post on my social media account, my Instagram. That's where you can also find some more info about my artwork.

SPEAKER_00: 18:16

Pretty exciting stuff. And listeners, I really hope that you go to the website. Again, it's IsaacMartinezArt.com and look at some of this amazing artwork that a local Canjilón native has on the website for you. Isaac, I really enjoyed having you in the studio today and getting to visit with you. I think your art is extraordinary and I really appreciate your perspectives on conservation and growing up in northern New Mexico and and all the things that make you who you are so thank you for making time to come in join us here for the podcast again folks we've been visiting with Isaac Martinez and the website is IsaacMartinezArt.com we want to thank all of you for making time to join us on the Farm and Ranch podcast which is brought to you by Chama Peak Land Alliance

SPEAKER_01: 19:06

thank you Sage for having me and thank you guys for all your efforts for conservation and thank you to your viewers and get involved with the Chama Peak Land Alliance. It's a great organization for like-minded people to get involved and be a part of your community.

SPEAKER_00: 19:20

Absolutely. And we'll look forward to working with you and having you on the podcast again. Folks, you can find us at www.chamopeak.org. Just a reminder for all of us, if you or anyone you know is feeling like you're facing a mental health crisis, you can always call or text the numbers 988, and that's nationwide. And you can also call or text that number if you're worried about a family member or a friend. We are a community and wherever you are, there is a community who cares. We can all play a role in suicide prevention and we want all of our audience to know that mental health matters. So please take care of yourself. And thank you again for making time to listen to us here on the Farm and Ranch Podcast. Have a great day wherever you are.

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