Meet Nicole Martinez | Artist and Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nicole Martinez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicole, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
I have a few quotes that I I go to for inspiration. The first one is from Jack Welch the former CEO of GE. This one I learned about when I got my first degree in Business Management. “Control your destiny or someone else will.” When I was 24 I found out I was pregnant. I was making $13 an hour as a vitamin clerk for what is now Sprouts which, as a single mom in San Diego, is very little. I knew the decision to keep my son was going to mean a drastic change. I had to worry about supporting another being and this child would rely solely on me. I learned about a new program to continue my education through University of Phoenix and worked very hard while pregnant and raising a baby to attain a degree in Business Management. I used this quote as a fire under me that helped to propel me through the total mental and physical exhaustion. But my education did not end there.

I continued to work in nutrition and felt that this was my calling. I started my own business called San Diego Herb Company and began to see regular clients who needed help while going through cancer treatments or were struggling with ideas to feed their autistic children who were on special diets. My mantra was “ if not me, who? If not now, when?” This one was floats around in many forms it’s attribution goes back to a Rabi. I felt the need to help people heal with what was in their cupboard. But I also started to see that working with adults and teaching them how to eat was too late. I needed to work with children.

This is when I began my third degree, a Master’s in education with a certificate as a Waldorf teacher. This time the quote that kept circling and continues to swirl around in my mind, especially at 5am when I get up every morning is, “90% of life is just showing up.” By Woody Allen. This one came especially as I was teaching my first graders online during COVID, Those little kiddos didn’t know what was going on half the time but they saw my face every morning. They smiled while I read books to them and chimed in their stories about what was going on in their household. This quote has been the air in my sales whenever I have hard days or start to doubt myself. But in the end, all you need to do is just show up, for yourself and for others.

Nowadays I am enjoying my role as educator and I have time now to pursue my passion which is art. I love to draw, paint and sculpt and bring all of these things to my students.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
For me drawings start as a concept or message I have an impulse to convey. I can’t say the source of the impulse, the best way to describe it is as a message from Spirit. I hear or see an image, then begin to draw. The rest of the image flows onto the paper bit by bit. I draw something, then see something else coming. And little by little the drawing appears. Each drawing ends up holding multiple thoughts or concepts. For example, Deer Medicine began as a story I was told by one of my first herbal teachers of how in the Native American community many years ago, a young healer in training would follow the deer to see all of the different medicines it used. If it had a goopy eye, they would take that herb, if it had a cut on it’s leg and rubbed it on something they would take that one too. This is how they originally learned about herbal medicine. They would then share this knowledge with their people. This image depicts the master herbs I used at the time like Reishi mushroom, dandelion and white sage. It also shows symbolism that other cultures have used for healing like mandalas.

I hope that by drawing these things it creates a sense of curiosity and wonder so the viewer feels inspired to learn more. I am a teacher at heart.

Born to Die is another storytelling piece. In it there are many images that depict Native American methods of healing or praying such as tying prayer flags, sitting in a medicine wheel, using the drum, working with animal medicine etc. The indigenous cultures live such a beautiful simple life. There is something to be said for working with the earth to heal oneself.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well I’m from San Diego so I’ll share about that.

First off we would go to Santa Cruz street in OB to lay out in the sun or just meditate while we watch the waves. Then we would drive to Liberty Station to either grab a beer at Stone Brewery or hit up the Public Market for some delicious food. Next we would go to Old Town to grab a margarita at Fred’s Cantina and walk around looking at all of the cool historic spots especially the Whaley House. Finally we would come back to my place pack up some water, wine and snacks, climb Cowles Mountain and watch the sunset.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Art Reach SD

Website: www.desertsage000.com

Instagram: desertsageandrose