The colorful masterpiece by America Martin depicts three men playing music. It was one of three paintings done by the artist for Todd to choose from

At the other end of the home, where the guest room is located, Power created a passageway that acts as a hall and, more importantly, a gallery space. Here, original Georgia O’Keefe drawings rest side-by-side with a Tinka Tarver sculpture installation. The showpiece of the guest bath is a life-sized abstract nude by America Martin.

As one of Los Angeles’ most historic, yet progressive properties, Hotel Figueroa has been a champion for women in the art and creative fields for nearly a century. The hotel was advertised as “an ideal stopping place for ladies unattended,” and served as a meeting place for practically every woman's club in Los Angeles.

INTERIOR DESIGN BY MEG LONERGAN

A vintage chaise in the master bedroom is from Rail & Stile, styled with custom Fabricut-covered pillows. A drawling by America Martin hangs above the vintage console.

When you have an open floor plan, large-scale artwork like this one by America Martin can serve as an important focal point or a visual destination to define a space. While visual destinations are important, successful interiors should feel harmonious and have a natural flow from room to room. We like to create continuity by repeating materials and shapes throughout the home. Here, the curved shape of the metal on the chandelier in the dining room is repeated in the ceiling fixtures leading down the hallway.

A massive, commissioned mural from painter America Martin, titled “James’ Flowers,” hangs in the main dining room.

One of the room’s most striking pieces is a painting by America Martin; placed against windows, a moss backing gives it an organic feel when viewed from the outside. The open, inviting atmosphere extends to the adjoining breakfast room, which offers a sophisticated spot to dine amid contemporary furniture and art. Well-suited for leisure and hospitality, the two rooms are “easy on the eyes,” says Turner. –Jennifer Boles

above: The dining room becomes an intimate cove beside the grandeur of the entry’s stairway. Yet it gathers its own gravitas from the limestone-tiled wall that flows from the entry. The homeowner’s equestrian passion is seen in a bronze equine sculpture set between Holly Hunt’s bronze “Bell Pepper” lamps. Women on Beach by artist America Martin provides an artistic focal point

It’s these sort of everyday Genre scenes that make up most of Martin’s oeuvre and justify her self-given title of “painting anthropologist,” but she has a way of romanticizing the quotidian in a way that make these moments feel monumental. While men and still life images certainly find their fair share of the limelight in her work, many of her larger-than-life paintings feature another form found throughout art history – the nude female figure. “I’m doing what art has been doing forever,” Martin says with satisfaction, “though I’m able to have more real estate – when I say “real estate,” I mean, scope of joy and confidence in the way that I portray women – because I am a woman.”

JA: Do your paintings have autobiographical elements to the narrative? Is this a reason for reoccurring themes throughout your body of work?

MARTIN: Everything is autobiographical. We are living biographies. Artists are just outside the lines about it. There are reoccurring themes, images and subject matters that I return to. These repeating images are at this point still partially responsible for the pleasure, comfort and joy I find when making a new work. For example, say when I clean the house as a rule I listen to very loud Beethoven or Billy Joel. When I paint a women resting in nature I put a small snail or a bird near her, because these are the things that draw my attention and make a moment tender. These themes repeat themselves and tend to go on with a series, until I begin finding interest in a new notion.