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Martin Bellmann I am a native of Missouri. Though I was born and grew up near St. Louis, in my heart I have always preferred a rural lifestyle, and escaped to the woods and the hills whenever I could, even if that was only in my mind. I have a very strong Native American influence to my soul. As a child, I most loved to ‘play Indian.’ Not Hollywood’s idea of an Indian, but rather that of a human being living in harmony with Earth Mother.
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I was interested in survival skills, how people lived and died, their clothing and everyday tools, how they governed themselves, and so on. I taught myself how to make my own clothes, moccasins and accoutrements. I don’t think my family ever understood this side of me, but that’s okay, it’s my life. |
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When I was eighteen I bought my first rifle, a muzzleloader and discovered that there were others who shared this interest in one way or another. At the time, they called themselves buckskinners. I moved to Columbia, Missouri, in 1981 to continue my college education at UMC, where I earned my degree in Fisheries and Wildlife and met a very remarkable woman who was to become my wife and best friend. |
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We lived together for fifteen years, struggled through some very difficult times, overcame many obstacles and grew a great deal together. We have since separated, yet I am honored to continue to share a loving and deeply supportive friendship with her.
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| I have supported myself with quite a number of different jobs over the years. I have been a restaurant cook, landscaper, house painter, stable manager for show horses, apartment maintenance man, massage therapist and emotional counselor, research assistant and laboratory manager, warehouse manager and handyman.
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| As for my art, I am self taught.
I first started drawing when I was five. We couldn’t afford pictures back
then, or even posters to hang on the walls. But one day I learned that my
father could draw, so every once in a while he would draw a picture for me
or my brother and we would hang it up. We were delighted by this and felt
this was very special and personal. But eventually my father became so busy
trying to make a living and dealing with the difficulties of life and
raising a family that he rarely had time to draw for us. So I decided to
draw a picture for myself and discovered that I had an aptitude for it. I
think the greatest gift my father gave me was to show me, by example, that
you could learn to do almost anything. I have been drawing for almost forty years, off and on, mostly to entertain myself and to have pictures to hang up, but also as a way to explore the nature of life. Recently I began to paint as well and found that this is fun! I live in a little log cabin that I built from the salvaged logs of an old original cabin on a hillside that overlooks the beautiful rolling hills of Missouri. Thank you for sharing this time with me. May the Great Spirit bless you and yours, and may you find joy in life always. Martin Bellmann
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