A late-blooming, deeply felt practice

Martha discovered painting in 2003, after a long career in public service. She works in mixed media, encaustics, and printmaking — chasing texture, colour, and shape through spontaneous, non-objective abstraction inspired by her garden and the natural world.

She began exhibiting with the Ottawa Mixed Media Association, and has continued to study under Ottawa-based artists and at the Haliburton School of the Arts. Her work has shown at the Art Credo show at St. John the Evangelist, the Crichton Street and Electric Street galleries, and a decade-long run at Galerie Old Chelsea. She has taken part in the New Edinburgh Studio Tour since 2016.

Each week, Martha volunteers with the Art Table at Hospice Care Ottawa — work she finds deeply satisfying, watching people turn to art at a pivotal moment in their lives.