Artist Statement
I see my art as conceptual, or imaginative.
I have a very free-form process. I focus on familiar patterns, like those found in nature, as well as in the beauty of the human face. I sometimes try to connect abstract or disparate ideas to deepen my own understanding and to show this through my art in a mystical way. My themes incorporate a love of spirituality, nature, myth, world culture, mysticism and science fiction.
For my current digital work, I'm using photo editing tools, effects apps and Al applications to enhance my art. A big part of my process is the initial concept. If an idea inspires me, I try to capture the essence of the feeling it gave me. I also use my own art (designs and animations, for example) to create something new.
My results with this approach + the tools I use inspire me continuously to go further and experiment more.
I am a digital creator and artist. My focus is on reconnection with self, empowerment, and healing using art and spirituality.
Small Series & Collections
Most of the art here was first listed as NFTs on Opensea. My Main Collection consisted of several smaller groups of themed Art. Currently, it is being made available for purchase via e-commerce sites.
Emperor’s Bird
The Emperor’s Bird series is the result of modifications to a mirrored fractal that resulted in a bird-like emblem. With this art I’m trying to convey themes of tradition, nostalgia, sovereignty, and even redemption. It is s a kind of visual fable for an imaginary, benevolent empire. It is the summation of the life and travels of a time-worn Emperor and the dawning era of an Empress.
To make different versions, I altered color and effects.
Art Shown::
Emperor’s Bird: Tales from the Yucatán (Top of Page)
Emperor’s Bird: Storybook SealStudy of a Wave
The Study of a Wave series is about the ocean, life and a spiritual journey. I’ve approached this series as if documenting a living wave’s growth and evolution. Each image and title tells a story. It was inspired by the focus and zen of Surfing Culture.
Also included in this series is art that was created about a year later. Ice designs, and AI-assisted 3D art were created from the original images.
Postcards from Tibet
Postcards from Tibet is a mini-series of graphic designs with the central theme of a sacred Tibetan mountain and temple.
Witchstitchery
Witchstitchery is a mini-series of 7 very simple graphic designs meant to resemble fabric, or textiles. I attempted to fool the eye using perspective, light and blurring to make them more unique.
AI/3D Art
In addition to creating art for larger collections, I’ve put together a variety of smaller series which I’ve started uploading to my Redbubble Shop (click on image below).
My current series of art includes new 3D digital and AI art. What makes my creations unique (to me) is that the variety and type of concepts reflect my interests, themes, and personal brand.
Crystal Cave I
Crystal caves are simple 3D geometric abstracts resembling folded paper art, or paper sculpture.
Distant Fires
A desert scene designed as if you’re looking out from beneath a stone outcrop. It becomes your quiet space and your own personal view of the canyon.
Floral Henna
Digital art created from an original ink drawing of my hand (image on the right) with a simple henna tattoo design. Recreated using AI.
Henna Hands
Digital art created from an original ink drawing of my hand with simple henna tattoo designs, recreated in AI to give the appearance of colorful drawings.
Flower of Life
Simple 3D flower-of-life sacred geometric symbol, rendered as a metallic emblem.
Tibeto-Maya Mandalas
Tibeto-Maya Mandalas are 3D geometric figures meant to resemble the structure of the universe and a spiritual focusing tool. They are a type of medicine wheel intended to be calming.
Red Disk Buddhas
Simple, peaceful, meditative buddhas framed by a red disk that also serves as a kind of halo around their heads.
FHPE Mask Series
Folktale Heroes of a Parallel Earth
FHPE Series
Folktale Heroes of a Parallel Earth
Folktale Heroes of a Parallel Earth (FHPE) is a conceptual art series of cultural masks I began creating in July 2023. It consists of tribal masks portraying beloved folktale characters from a parallel version (or versions) of Earth. The masks represent beings, animal-hybrids and deities.
Art shown is (c) 2023, 2024 by Veronica Martinez / ArtLynette. Protected by Digital Copyright.
They're made to appear as if constructed of natural materials such as wood, stone, metal, or clay.
My original intention was to make them resemble traditional totems of the Pacific Northwest, but the collection quickly evolved to become less mask-like and more anthropomorphic.
.Many are fusions, hinting at more than one culture. They may also resemble toys, dolls, puppets, robots, or even aliens.
The simple idea of folktales, or legends contain the best stories about the human race. Included within them are our desires for good, laughter, family, self-realization, magic, and the supernatural.
A Note on My Process
Most of the art I’ve created for the past two years (particularly with the “Folktale Heroes”, FHPE series) was created using AI, but not solely AI.
Basically, I'm using the AI for 3D realism: light/shadow, surfaces and materials. If I want to create a mask (for example) made of a particular material — wood, stone, metal, etc. — I can specify that.
My initial 2D art concept becomes a source image. After this, I formulate a detailed text prompt and I run this + my source image through the Al application or software. I also use photographic filters and effects apps, with final editing in Adobe Lightroom and/or Snapseed.
Process outline page from my portfolio.
Process images from FHPE series.
Group One (FHPE series)
Art from the first “group” of images for the Folktale Heroes of a Parallel Earth series, created July 2023.
Art Shown:
Top Left: The Elder
Top Right: Best Storyteller
Bottom Left: Grandmother Spirit
Bottom Right: Laughing Bird (No. 3)
Nomadic Paint
From the Forest Beneath the Falls
Forever Guanyin
Nomadic Paint Series
Forever Guanyin highlights the tranquil countenance of Guanyin (or Kwanyin) and is a message of peace.
The Story
An ancient statue stands before a still lake in the mountains. Nearby sits the modest temple of a poor village.
Beloved by the village, the statue is as old as the mountains. It was created by a mysterious monk who devotedly carved and painted the statue before disappearing without a trace.
Centuries pass. Distressed at the state of the world, the statue slowly comes to life.
The Concept
This art concept is based on the lost Japanese Sci-Fi film the Great Buddha Arrival (1934) and its remake of the same title from 2018. It is about the revered Daibutsu statue which comes to life and begins wandering around Nagoya city.
Model created from several “parent” models
I created my original model from several different images (I sometimes create a number of models at once. It’s very likely I used royalty-free images from Unsplash or Pexels).
My result was modified several times, and was also used as a source image to create other models.
Final Image
My final image appears to be a double exposure and a collage — a rough paint design is superimposed on her face, and then the image is placed on a background (in this case a misty mountain and forest wallpaper).
Once I saw the result, I created her story almost simultaneously. I had recently seen a documentary about the Great Buddha Arrival film and I remember wondering: what if Kwanyin came to life like the giant Buddha?
Emrys
Nomadic Paint Series
Emrys is another name for Merlin
Story of Nomadic Paint
How the Series Started
I was making double-exposure images for a digital collage one day and chose the wrong picture: I had superimposed one of my own designs on the face I was working on. To me, it resembled a tribal tattoo. I liked the look of it and my first thought was Nomadic Paint.
Nomadic Paint is theatrical and imaginary. The first few designs were meant to resemble or strongly hint at indigenous groups, but the series doesn’t specifically (or accurately) contain any nomadic tribes.
I’m working from a list of concepts that include: Science Fiction & Fantasy, world culture, folktale and myth. Some were inspired by Quantum physics, AI, the Singularity, Ancient Egypt, Aztec/Mayan culture, Pirates and Cirque du Soleil.
Models
My first model was created from the screenshot of a game avatar. I then merged it with another image and edited it until I was happy with it.
Predominantly Male
My models are predominantly male, but just recently I’ve started creating female models.
Model Variety
L to R: “Unit 502” and “Asian American”, 2022.
L to R: River Ancestor, P H A R A O H, and Noospheric Future.
“Navigator-of-Souls” (2022)
Armor of Candace
I created the Armor of Candace (also AOC) series from a 15-second abstract video clip. It was created to be set to music, but was never used. My originals for this series consisted of 9 basic designs; though similar, no two are exactly alike.
First “Candace” Series
My first series on Opensea consisted of 6 variations.
Exclusive 1/1 Designs
It’s a lot of fun for me to create these. So many possibilities. Naming them is fun also.
Shown: Demigoddess (L), Celestial (R)
Color Series
Though they might seem to be related to a comic book series they’re not. But I was having fun making them. The color series contains just 4 styles named: Hard Peach, Buttercup, Ionic Green (shown), and Violet.
The Candace Concept
Armor of Candace (AOC)
My concept was developed around the mystery and enigma of the letter X. As a symbol, it has carried its own mystique and various uses throughout history (e.g. language and mathematics). In some ways, it can represent disenfranchised, or overlooked groups— such as people of color, or women.
FIT FOR A QUEEN
The Armor of Candace is also a nod to the African Queen Candace of Kush who, in addition to being a queen, was a military leader (the word “cadence” derived from the name Candace, just FYI).
IDEALIZED SHAPE
The shape suggests an idealized woman’s torso, or waist. Basically, the meaning behind it is martial (military) and related to the female as sovereign.
FIVE ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS
Concept & Art by Veronica Martinez
Five Ancient Astronauts (5AA)
Five Ancient Astronauts began as a digital art project that I listed as NFT Art on Opensea in 2022. This was an experiment, and a way for me to learn about NFTs. Like Armor of Candace, the images were taken from a 15-second abstract art graphic.
The original five images were simply modified to create more variations. This was not AI art - it was a series of 2D digital designs.
The astronauts are basically mask-like images. Each mask represents the face of an alien life form, as well as an indigenous mask. The colors, patterns, or textures on the masks themselves are meant to refer to a particular story event, dimension, or paradigm. But it wasn't until I started creating the Variants that I was inspired to create stories.
As I altered the art in some way, I also imagined an event to go along with it. I formulated these into simple narratives that were similar to micro-fiction, but also where I tried to mimic the tone of a Twitter Story-Bot. Because I write creatively anyway, there was never a reason for me to use ChatGPT - which was not as popular at that time as it is now.
DIMENSIONAL WARP (2022)
METEORITES! (2022)
The Concept
Five Ancient Astronauts
The concept is about a team of five interdimensional explorers from the same Galaxy. The group consists of a leader, a geneticist, a historian, an explorer, and a military scout. The series outlines their adventures in different paradigms, dimensions, or galaxies.
Their mission is to learn and accurately document all the details regarding their own genetic existence (constructing what they refer to as "The Map"), while also correcting any genetic anomalies they encounter. Their ultimate purpose is to record this data for future generations.
Names and Roles of the Five Ancient Astronauts
As they enter a new Paradigm (or existential pattern), their appearance (the art) will change as will their story. The art designs above are examples of the astronauts’ appearance in other paradigms.
Other 5AA Project Designs
The design above (and also at the top of the previous page) is one I created for the 5AA project. The blocks spell out ASTERI, which is the name, or even the genus, of the Five Ancient Astronauts. The design squares represent letters and are from a published font.
The name of the font is Haus Ethnik Dingbats and it was created by artist and graphic designer, Baynham Goredema of Johannesburg, Africa. It is based on modifications of ethnic Zimbabwean cultural textiles. I first discovered his work on Behance.“Spacemans” Portraits
The “Spacemans” black and white portraits are collages. They’re meant to resemble a Sci-Fi movie scene from the 1950’s, and are really just a tongue-in-cheek way of looking at the characters.
PROCESS
Looking back, I believe I found the helmet on Pexels. I got rid of the glass visor, inserted an astronaut face, and added a shadowy vignette. I desaturated the entire image, then played around with photo filters until I got the effect I wanted.Incorporating AI
Gradually in the past year, I've started revisiting the original art and using them as source images in AI applications. This has allowed me to develop the concepts further. At the same time, I still very much value and appreciate my simple, original work.
All art (c) 2023-2025 by Veronica Martinez / ArtLynette. Protected by digital copyright.
Veronica Martinez / ArtLynette
Artist Bio
Veronica Martinez, or ArtLynette was born in Seattle. Her family background is military so she’s traveled some. Her grade school years were spent in Germany, from where she was able to tour cities in Italy and take a school Art trip to Strasbourg, France. In the ensuing years, she and her family lived on a number of military bases across the U.S.
She grew up shy: she began drawing at age 4 and wrote short stories to entertain herself around age 9. She was an avid reader growing up, and admits to being that person whose Fantasy novels often included a map. She also had a fascination for names, name etymology and world-building. She created otherworldly beings and sometimes even languages for her stories.
Despite her creativity, she joined the U.S. Army at 21 to continue traveling, and to follow in her father’s footsteps. She wasn’t able to return to Germany (as she’d hoped), but was given the opportunity to serve in Sinai, Egypt instead. She believes this experience became a kind of spiritual catalyst for her.
During her time in the military, she married, had a child, and subsequently became a single parent. Following her military service, she returned to school in Washington state, then she and her son followed her parents to Alaska where she’s currently based.
OH HEY, FOR BEST VIEWING, YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR PHONE