Since he was old enough to hold a pencil, Nashvillian Randal Martin has been an artist. After working as a graphic designer, watercolorist and oil painter, Martin has found his real passion; carving birds from wood. His sculpting parallels his love of nature and the great outdoors. Martin’s love of wildlife and respect for all God's creatures, great and small, ensures great detail and precision in every piece he creates. He practically breathes life into these wood replicas of some of Mother Nature's best work. "I typically have four or five carvings going at once, and as they come to life, I can't wait to begin another."
 
The first songbird he ever carved won Best of Show and First Place at the Tennessee Valley Fair in Knoxville, TN in 2001, and he won the Silver Brush Award at the Tullahoma, TN Fine Arts Festival. In fact, he's won ribbons and awards for every carving he has ever entered in competition over the years since he focused on wood as his primary artistic medium. He considers his greatest honor to date as being selected to carve a bluebird ornament for the White House Christmas tree for an "All Creatures Great and Small" seasonal theme. First Lady Laura Bush invited him and his wife, Zan, to Washington for a special viewing of the nation's Christmas tree.
 
His work is sold at the Cliff Dwellers Gallery in Gatlinburg, TN. He carved an Ivory Billed Woodpecker for the IJAMS Nature Center, Knoxville, TN and a Red Cockaded Woodpecker for a Florida nature Center, as well as a Hummingbird carving which was presented to the Vice President of Nippon Telephone & Telegraph Co., the largest corporation in Japan.