He’s the shopping cart painter, often clad in brightly spattered overalls that look a dropcloth as he mounts his easel on the street, in the open air, to capture what he sees.

And while this spring will see Marty David’s work exhibited in a more formal gallery space, for at least a couple of months, alongside fellow artist Steve R. Johnson, David promised that even the indoor space would remain at least slightly unruly.

Between the recent construction work at the recently christened Kreatia Gallery, located at 710 Landes Court behind the Safeway in Port Townsend, and the fact that David and Johnson expect to be working on art pieces during their official grant opening event from 5-8:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, the duo have dubbed their joint public debut “Caution! Artists at Work.”

David’s work as a professional artist began in 1987 with an admittedly humble gig sketching portraits of passersby at the South Kitsap Mall in Port Orchard, but he’s continued to keep an active hand in trades such as construction since then.

In July 1999, after plying his artistic talents as far north as Bellingham and as far south as Oregon, David underwent a separation. He decided he needed to get himself together and came to Port Townsend, “which seemed like the ends of the earth, but I thought, maybe that’s what I needed. Nobody knew me here, so if I screwed up, nobody would care.”

David began his artistic career in Port Townsend by painting at the wharf. When construction work commenced nearby on his first day, he started packing up to relocate.

Instead the construction crew chief approached to tell him to keep his easel where it was because the crew was more than willing to work around him.

“That truly changed my life,” David said. “I’ve painted all across the peninsula, but this community has been uniquely encouraging and supportive toward me from the first.”

David described the places where he’d worked before as “just a bit too boxed in,” before he laughed and suggested that Port Townsend “can appreciate my craziness.”

David’s plein air painting has been enhanced in recent years by the adoption of his souped-up shopping cart. It was acquired from QFC after the store switched to a different model of carts.

By augmenting the cart with an umbrella and pneumatic wheels, David has created a mobile base of operations. He’s often seen around town creating and selling his artwork. He’s proud of his ability to set up shop in about 15 minutes at locations such as the Chimacum Corner Farmstand for farmers markets.

Operating on wheels makes sense for a man who freely recounts having lived out of his car in the mid-1980s, and out of an RV van for more than three and a half years. How David honed his artistic skills sharply contrasts with his more free-spirited outlook and lifestyle since then.

“I held a position as an 81E MOS, or illustrator draftsman, for six years, while attached to, drilling and training with the 24th Army Reserve Command headquarters unit at Fort Lawton in Seattle,” said David, who was also an award-winning regional rodeo rider. “I narrowly missed winning first place in the state high school rodeo finals because of a freak incident in my last go-round that ended with my foot getting broken in four places.”

David’s art has included rural Western themes from his upbringing, such as rodeos, livestock and natural landscapes, as well as familiar sights from his most recent quarter-century, such as wooden boats, Victorian buildings, old bridges and other weathered architecture. He’s also continued producing portraits, in paints and other media.

David described the “serotonin trigger” of having his work appreciated by audiences. He’s become practiced enough in his techniques to enjoy the process of producing more art.

“I’ve become more impressionist, since I’m expressing myself with fewer brushstrokes,” David said. “It’s more important to me to capture the essence of a thing, through color and form, rather than worrying about all of the little details. I noticed that my sleeve was smudging my sketch portraits, but I decided I liked what that added to their look.”

Turning to one of his older illustrated scenes, set to be on display at the Kreatia Gallery, he noted that it includes a woman, and it looks out onto the Manette Bridge in Bremerton.

“My idea was that she was remembering an old swing that used to be there, but no longer was,” David said. “And now, of course, the Manette Bridge is no longer there. I created this to serve as a time capsule of her memories, but it’s since become a time capsule of what I remember.”

David added, “I suppose I want to share what it’s like to be human, and what’s going on in society, but I’m still finding my way. But I just want to say thank you to all the people of this community for putting up with me for the past 25 years. They deserve to hear that from me.”

David hopes that visitors to the Kreatia Gallery will be every bit as receptive to his exhibition partner, Steve R. Johnson, whose art spans from painting to photography, and whom David noted is no stranger to manual labor either.

Johnson’s photographs have been featured in poetry books including Finn Wilcox’s “Here Among the Sacrificed” in 1984 and translator Mike J. O’Connor’s “Where the World Does Not Follow: Buddhist China in Picture and Poem” in 2002, as well as Port Townsend translator Bill “Red Pine” Porter’s “Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits” in 1993.