Martha Wakefield’s work strives to capture the significance of this world – its ancient and mysterious past, as well as its incessant regeneration and rebirth. And so Martha makes art and teaches it to others after writing about it - it’s more likely than not that the artist dreams of it too. Her many awards and presence in corporate and private collections in Canada and the United States, stand testament to her talents and longstanding dedication. Recently, Watercolor Artist magazine nominated her as one of five “Artists to Watch” because she has been producing works of astonishing imagination for many years. Martha was born and raised in Maine. She’s, therefore, deeply accustomed to its unforgiving shore and sea-swept lands. Her internal geography of impression and memory originates in Maine and serves as a launch pad for studies of deep emotions, loss, and love.
Martha studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the University of Vermont in New York, and after graduation, she returned to Boston after a successful career in fashion industry of New York City. In Boston, she decided to pursue her unfinished business as a full time artist. Her important influences include the Bay Area Figurative painters, especially Diebenkorn Richard for his luminous surfaces and abstraction of the landscape, Bischoff Elmer for his palette that’s sophisticated, and Oliveira Nathan for his emotional mark- making and imagery. She has studied with Skip Lawrence, Wolf Kahn, Jon Imber and Stuart Shils. Martha is represented by Law and Water Gallery of Gloucester, and Powers Gallery of Acton.
