A master realist painter, she was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she attended Carlow University and received a degree in art and art education. Later she studied art at the Maryland Institute College of Art and the University of Southern California.
At the beginning of her career she worked as an art teacher and art department head in Maryland and California. After becoming a full-time artist she taught watercolor and oil painting workshops in the United States and abroad. After moving to Colorado she became a master instructor for a branch of the Art Student’s League in Colorado Springs and then set up her own classes in her studio where she presently teaches on a weekly basis.
She was director for many years of large adventure workshops combining painting and exploring. Some of these adventures include Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, where Georgia O’Keefe painted, a yearly excursion on a Clipper Ship in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas stopping at many ports to paint and an exciting workshop in Salvador, Brazil, painting the colorful region and people there. It was due to these painting trips on which the artists had to carry around all their painting equipment that she put together a compact painting travel kit that she marketed and that many plein air artists use as they travel to their many painting locations.
Martha’s work has been featured in many art publications such as: Southwest Art Magazine, Artist’s Magazine, Watercolor Artist’s Magazine and Art Collector’s Magazine. Her work has been used in several books on painting; “Making Your Watercolors Look Professional,” by Carole Katchen, The Best of Watercolor Series, Rockport, Press, “How to Paint Better Watercolor Paintings,” by Jerald Brommer and Jerald Brommer’s Art Education Posters for High Schools. Her work has received many awards in national juried competitions including numerous best of shows awards. Western Federation of Watercolor Societies, New Mexico Watercolor Society, Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, Rocky Mountain Watercolor Society, Pikes Peak Watercolor Society, Montana Watercolor Society and the Adirondacks National and the San Diego Watercolor Society to name a few. She has been awarded signature membership into the American Watercolor Society and the National Watercolor Society.
Over her career as an artist she has had the privilege of being able to work with many painting groups and institutions:
Instructor of painting at the Jade Fong Watercolor Workshops in Carmel, California
Instructor at La Romita School of Art in Umbria, Italy
Instructor at Montfacon in Limoux, France
Charles Russell Art Auction in Great Falls, Montana, 10 years
National Arts Club in New York
Salmagundi Club in New York
National Academy of Design in New York
American Watercolor Society, New York, Signature Member
National Watercolor Society, California, Signature Member
National Arts Club, New York
Pennsylvania Watercolor Society
Western Federation of Watercolor
Florida Watercolor Society, convention show juror and instructor
Baltimore Watercolor Society
Las Posada Painting Group, annual workshop, Green Valley, Arizona
Rocky Mountain National Art Exhibition
Adirondacks Watercolor Exhibition
San Diego Watercolor Society
New Mexico Watercolor Society
Pikes Peak Watercolor Society
Tokyu Gallery Exhibitions, Tokyo, Japan
William and Mary College, Williamsburg, VA Summer children’s Art Program
Ranchland’s Artist’s Gathering, Nature Conservancy’s Medano/Zapata Ranch, San Luis Valley, Colorado
Sheridan College/Spear-O-Wigwam Sheridan Wyoming, Artist’s Gathering
Brinton Museum, Big Horn Wyoming, Sheridan College show and small works show
Palmer Land Trust, Colorado Springs, CO, First Place Art and Purchase award--two years
Ghost Ranch Art Workshops Director, Abiquiu, New Mexico
Arts For The Parks annual Exhibition and Traveling Show
Taos New Mexico Art Museum, Taos, New Mexico, Russian Nights Show
Art In The Embassy’s Program, Guatamala Embassy for a year
Artisans semiannual Art Expo, Painting instructor, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Her work is included in many corporate collections:
Asilomar Convention Center Collection, Carmel, California,
Steven Mullens Attorneys at Law Collection, Kogyo Corp., Nagano, Japan,
Southwest National Bank Collection, Center for Creative Leadership Collection, Atmel Corporate Collection,
and The Pinery Event Center Collection in Colorado Springs, CO,
New Mexico University Art in Public Places Collection
Martha is the Writer and Illustrator of “Gordon” a story of a baby bison, 2014 a children’s book
She is represented by:
Ruhlen-Owen Contemporary Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
and the Broadmoor Galleries at the five star Broadmoor Hotel, Colorado Springs, CO