Painter Martin combines his love of cuisine with painting

Martin Caldwell who originally comes from Nassau Street but now lives in Portstewart has worked all over the world in catering.

His work has taken him as far away as Germany and England, and now back on home turf, he runs the training restaurant in the Ulster University in Belfast.

The son of Theresa and George Caldwell from Derry Martin recalled that he had never studied art when he was at St. Joseph’s Boys’ School in Creggan.

“I have always been interested in art,” he said. “I’d always liked drawing and painting but I never studied it myself. I went to the Derry Tech and later went on to the catering college in Portrush. This lead to a career working front of house and in hotel management across the world.”

More recently Martin decided to make the jump from industry to teaching. And for the past two years he’s been passing on the skills he has developed to students.

But in between he’s found time to try out the skill of painting.

“I just started painting one day,” said Martin,” “it was as simple as that. And it has really taken off. My initial work was landscapes.”

And indeed his pictures showing the coastline near his home, and his paintings of Donegal are simply breathtaking.

“I’ve now moved on to food and painted some humorous restaurant scenes,” said the father of one. “I started up on my own facebook page to try and connect with people and it has just lifted off from there.

“People really seem to like what I paint. Some of my paintings are now in the picture gallery in Queen Street.

“The really good thing is that my work teaching students about the hospitality industry and my paintings have become intertwined. And I’m using my painting to inform students. I never thought that working in that different field would end up being connected so much to my own work.”