Mike Martin displays his original watercolor used to create the winning design for the 2019 Texas Arts & Crafts Fair. Hill Country Arts Foundation Board President Dave Staggs and HCAF Executive Director Sarah Derousseau presented Martin with a $500 prize.

Comfort artist Mike Martin submitted the winning entry in the poster design competition for the official 2019 Texas Arts and Crafts Fair.

Martin received a $500 honorarium for his winning design and a free booth at the fair, which will be Sept. 28-29, 2018 at the Hill Country Arts Foundation in Ingram.

Martin, who grew up in Ingram, credits the artistic influence of his father and grandmother, who were both painters and encouraged him to pursue his own art.

In his youth, Martin studied at the Hill Country Arts Foundation and the McNay Art Institute in San Antonio. He continued his art education at Texas Tech University. He also studied under the tutelage of Texas artists Herb Mears, Clay McGaughy, and Buck Schiwetz. Martin is now attending the Hill Country Atelier working under the master artist Holly White-Gehrt.He lives in Comfort, where he loves painting the old houses and in plein air.