Threshold

Threshold is book one of a trilogy.
The main protagonist and anecdotalist in these three books is Simone Roux, a professional oil painter in her mid Forties.
It is by happen-chance that she stumbles throught the esoteric village of Threshold while on an afternoon sojourn with Finnean, an intriguing colleague.
Immersed in Threshold's gripping presence, Simone can't loose sight of it.
Her recollections act as the catalyst for her return.  This visit becomes momentous as she presses her way inside this tempus capsule.
Threshold is charming with an element of discomfort but having the right amount of naivety Simone falls in love with an empty farmhouse for sale.  She will need all her enthusiasm as she adjusts to the unfamiliar bucolic environment and the reaction to her acquisition of the farmhouse by some of Threshold's pillar residents.  Simone becomes the owner of her own aging farmhouse that screams of emptiness.  Having made this investment she concentrates on her work, endeavoring to make acquaintances with locals and the mounting intrigue she has for one of her closest friends.
Oblivious to what now endows her as the wealthiest resident in Threshold, Simone is particularly vulnerable to those with an abject desire for illicit wealth associated with her new home.  Simone comes to understand that her investment involves more than a farm and though she equates wealth with friendship, work and love, others are definitively less abstract.
While mayhem accumulates around her, Simone is busy orchestrating her version of the perfect artist's life.  Needing companionship she decides to adopt an endearing retiree who goes by the name Pell-Mell.  She employs a dashing architect to repurpose an aging barn on her newly acquired farm while Finnean carefully advances his romantic interests.  Simone adjusts to her unfamiliar milieu discovering  a new sense of harmony in unexpected places.
Simone, with the support of those who admire her most, will persevere.

Threshold is approximately 85,951 words.

Darla 

Book two of the trilogy begins as Simone and Finnean sojourn together in the sleeper car of a passenger train.   For two days they have narrowed the distance between themselves and Finnean's beloved grandmother, Darla Deen who will soon celebrate her eighty-fifth birthday.
Upon arrival by rail, Simone and Finnean are greeted by Darla's career long friend, chauffeur and butler, Hughes and his nefarious nephew, Sterling who drives them to Darla's timeless mansion.
Finnean delights with the prospect of introducing his grandmother, Darla Deen to Simone his greatest love.  Within this delight Finnean anticipates revisiting and sharing charished memories of his adolescence which he relies will intensify the connection between he and Simone.
Darla Deen is a retired relic from a long forgotten film career.  This introduction is unfamiliar turf and an eye opener for Simone who has never shared company with the likes of Darla Deen, a puzzling and charismatic creature...     -continued-

Darla

The stage deepens with the arrival of Darla's youngest brother and his wife.
Darla takes her guests on unimaginable evening journeys from her past, or are they scripts from old movies?	 It is two weeks of memorable vacation for Simone but its not over until the five-some all promise to regroup in six months with their DNA results packed in their luggage.	Once returned from this memorable sojourn, Finnean and Simone no sooner have unpacked their grips when they are urgently called back.	While Finnean, Simone and Wendell are busy performing their responsibilities to the late Darla Deen, devious plotting concerning the spoils left behind make for dangerous liaisons. 	Will any of this answer Simones quandary over marriage to Finnean or will an  unexpected introduction, that awaits Finnean’s return to Threshold, defer his focus from Simone to the notable presence of another?	What transpires next enthralls the reader to enter the third book, Empirical.
Darla contains approximately 100,625 words.

 Empirical

Empirical is book three of the triolgy surrounding the character Simone Roux, her sphere of friends and loved ones.  It adds a fresh ensemble of bright faces that take their place among the familiar characters living in Threshold.  
Empirical expresses the rapture of discovery when two men realize the brotherhood gifted by a father they share.
Having taken distinct paths to arrive where they stand, is perplexing yet compelling, providing much material for many conversations of life's experiences.
Through this profound lineage they become   aware that there is a realm about each other that must be respected if not understood.  
You are familiar with Finnean the painter and now are introduced to Leland Alderwood the writer who takes his new found brother to places of macabre darkness in his consquencial soaking up of spiritual content found within the wood that surrounds his buccolic hearth.  Along for Leland's adventures is his faithful grandfather and cohert, Ben who outwardly espresses   disapproval of his grandson's methods for gathering inspiration for a new book.
These methods alarm even the seeker Leland as he finds himself engulfed in an age old drama of callus hard resentment and murder hidden in gelid starless obscurity.
Simone lights this story as anecdotalist revealing the sometimes charming but often wrenching events  conjured by Leland's pursuits.  
Simone and Finnean are not prepared for the private world of the new brother as he confounds them with his macrabre association and its disturbing consequences.

Empirical contains approximately, 88,323 words.

Precipice

Maxim Proffer returns to Precipice, now a grown man of forty-five years.  Recognized as a successful teacher of ocean sciences he is known to ninety year old Reverend Proffer as grandson.
This visit is initially intended to focus on closing down the longstanding Cliffside Church.  
Quickly the visit becomes an uneasy milieu for Maxim.  His affections for a  restaurant entrepreneur open the door to her heart and a periphery of peril waiting in her ancestral home.  
Unable to convince the lovely Faye of possible intruders, his suspicions remain his own.  
Danger parrallels Maxim while he is distracted by love of Faye  and his responsilbilities for his grandfather. 
Maxim and Faye find time from the business of life for sharing days wandering the beaches once used during the early days of Precipice by merchant ships and those of pirates.  The lovers are a breath away from two poachers whos plan of malice defies norms of descency. The precariousness of the situations surrounding the two lovers will escalate beyond their control. 
 This isn't the only curve for Maxium, now confounded by his ill-tempered declining  grandfather who tells tales of the lives lived by the residents in the Cliffside Cemetery.
Maxim is unable to curtail the potential for  mayhem,  which ultimately endangers his loved ones. 
In fact, Maxim's arrival becomes an ingredient in a briny stew already set to boil.  Throw in two high-minded reprobates, a cranky inappropriate reverend, the lovely Faye,  a landscape engulfed in pirates' anathemas in the quaint village of Precipice and mayhem swells into a torrent.  
The characters are memorable and endearing while the story will fill your brain with rich images of people and the places they take you. 

 Precipice is approximately 
99,511 words.

The Curious Reader 

Nearly an after thought, Raeigh's realtor calls back with information of a significant property he had forgotten.  A unique building had been overlooked but would she be interested in postponing her flight home?
Certain it would meet his client's expectations... one 'Raeigh Berry'... blooming literati aficionado, the description of the building enchanted her.  She agreed to stay one more day.
Raeigh imagined herself an entrepreneur selling books.  In her words, the perfect building held the magic that would inspire a writer to dip a quill, filling pages to swelling with brilliant pros of life's dramas.  She and her house of books would fuel the intellect and provide a portal to the imagination.  Traveling the literary footpath required the acquisition of a singular milieu.
To view the property, Raeigh would be visiting The Curio District, an aging strip of going concerns whose coming or going had not been decided.
She soon discovers the intriguing lineage attached to her newly acquired building and to The Curio District.  She shares her discoveries with a new friend who aids in the search for truths about The Curio District's cryptic past.
Raeigh's vibrant yet aging aunt insists her niece is best suited selling books near her home town and invites herself for an official visit.  The angst between them melts in the charms of Raeigh's new world and those individuals that now surround her.
In her efforts to make new acquaintances she meets the owner of a neighboring outdoor store.  Raeigh, who has always pressed her nose into books has little comfort negotiating the paths of nature but allows new enchanting sojourns with walking sticks in hand and a handsome guide.
Within her busy entrepreneurial life, Raeigh negotiates needed time for discoveries.  She searches further into a decidedly complex puzzle shaped by cult activity and possible crimes.
She uncovers the local legend of overt happenings still being hidden by the interested parties.  It is a unique liaison who seek to sequester the evidence.  
With the help of rumored information from her friends and research, Raeigh finds truth to an enigma which has been lying beneath her feet.

The Curious Reader contains approximately 90,482 words.

Recently I've discovered Charcoal in combination with Pan Pastel working on mildly treated boards or card.  These four featured images are all on Suede or Touch supports.  I will be adding more so check back often. 

Lauren in a Towel, was created on watercolour paper.  I began with liquid charcoal.  Once dry I continued on with my usual material...Pan Pastel, soft pastel and various types of charcoal.  As in all my work of this type, it is shown without  fixatives. 18" X 24".     (shown on right) 

Again, Lauren is in a towel, however the black ground offers me a theatrical convience which I am happy to exploit.  The narrative is Medieval or Renaissance.   'Laundress', 18" X 24", Charcoal & Pastel on paper.           (shown on left)

Lauren is always my favorite subject.  She appears here on a 20 X 16 treated pastel card.

       Gallery of Oil Paintings   
                         

The Shiner,30 X 15, $ 3,500.
Autumn, 16" X 20 Oil on canvas panel, $ 1,600.
Wave Splay Study, 12 X 16, Oil on panel, 
$ 1,800.
Wave Study Sunset, Oil on Panel, 20 X 16, 
$ 2,500.
Gabrielle,  20 X 16, $ 4,500.
The Coop, 28 X 22, Oil on panel, $4,800.
Chick World, 15 X 30, Oil on panel, $ 3,800.
Wave Study I, 12 X 24, Oil on canvas, $ 1,800.
Wave Study III, 12 X 24, Oil on canvas, $ 1,800.
Chef Zitie La Ditta, & Company,  24" X 30", oil on canvas, 
$ 3,600.
Doorstop And Other Curiosities, 15" X 30, Oil on linen panel, sold.

Color On a Cloudy Day, 11 X 14, Sold
The Grazer, 24 X 12,  on linen panel, $ 2,200.
Orchids, 40 X 30 wrap around canvas,
$ 3,500.
Still Life With A Zorn Palette, $ 1,800.
Cambria Wave, 16 X 20, $ 2,700.
Chef Capelli d' Angelo, 20 X 30, $ 4,500.
Receiving Waves, 20 X 16, Oil on linen panel,
$ 2,500.
Eggs, 12 X 16, Oil on panel, $ 1,600.
Smile, 12 X 24, Oil on canvas, $ 1,800.
Wave Study II, 12 X 24, Oil on canvas, $ 1,800.
CO Brook, 24" X 36" Oil on canvas, $ 6,500.
Caster Shutins, 30" X 24", Oil on canvas, $ 4,500.

Chef Stelline And Other Stars, 18 X 24, 
$ 3,600.
Yellow Dog, 24 X 18, $ 2,400.
Chef Capelli d' Angelo, 20 X 30, $ 4,500.
Chef Parmesano, 30 X 15, $ 3,500.
The Lobby, 30 X 24, Oil on canvas, $ 6,500.
Pizza Pie, 24 X 18, Oil, $ 3,400.
Blooms Noir, 36" X 24" Oil on canvas, $5,200.

 Gallery of Pastel Paintings

Tuboc Pots, Series I, 18 X 24, $ 2,700.
Tubac Pots Series III, 18 X 24, $ 2,700.
Tubac Pots Series II,  24 X 18, $ 2,700.
Kim's Class, 18 X 24, Collection the Teacher.
The Rock And The Rake, 24 X 18, $ 2,700.
Gargoyle Guarding, 12 X 24 on La Carte card,, $ 2,200.
Gargoyle Guarding, 18 X 24, on La Carte card,  $ 2,900.
Oology, 18 X 18 Pastel on La Carte` paper, $ 2,200.

remleymartin.studio

Vieux Carre` Booksellers

Threshold

Darla

Darla

Precipice

The Curious Reader

Gallery of Oil Paintings