I was born on January 22, 1946 in Luyano Cuba, a small city outside of Havana. During my birth my mother told me that my father had gone to get the midwife leaving her at home with my little two year old sister. I arrived before my father could get back with the midwife. My mother as always took care of things. She used the shoelace from a brand new pair of booties to tie my umbilical cord. Little Martha had arrived, born and crying for 24 hours straight until my father decided to give me a bottle of cow´s milk and that was the beginning.

By the age of three I was drawing everything that I saw, and to my mothers' dismay on every surface I found, including the small glass panes I raided from every picture frame and lanterns around the house. My actions were seen as mischievous but I always believed I was being innovative. All my drawings were well displayed by my proud parents. By the age of ten I was undertaking the illustrations of all my Latin studies in pen and ink and tempera on glass.

I was introduced to pastels, oils and water colors at the age of twelve and was fascinated by the beautiful richness of oil painting. At this early age armed with a developing strong will and my decision that their was no benefit in going to regular school my parents enrolled me in "La Universidad de San Alejandro" in Havana, Cuba. However, my attendance at this institution was short lived due to Fidel Castros' nationalization of all the schools. The heart breaking decision my parents had to make would change my life forever. I was to leave Cuba, my home, my friends, and all I knew about life as a twelve year old girl to live with an aunt and uncle in New York. With all the adjustment and difficulty of a new language and culture I retained my love of painting and at the age of thirteen entered my first official contest. The contest was held in a Madison Avenue art gallery a long subway ride from my home.

I still remember the looks from the adults on the train as they studied this young girl with a 48" by 52" portrait of a boy from India. My painting was called "Safiro" and like with all my paintings the colors were both rich and warm. The boy wore a blue turban and had the most interesting and captivating eyes. I believe it was one of my best works ever. Out of three hundred entries mostly from adult artists, little Martha did not win first place. On the long subway ride home I kept thinking Seventh Place, not bad for a little brown girl from Cuba, and knew then that my art was a special gift and would always be part of my life.

I enrolled in some art classes at the Art Student League in New York City and entered into the life changing environment of painting from live models and studying anatomy. I started selling my paintings, pastels and pen and ink drawing at the age of sixteen and discovered a passion for painting portraits in oils. With my first interests, children, horses, dogs, cats, and birds, all that mattered to me was that I had to capture the expressions, and the feelings behind the eyes and features of all my subjects. Looking around me at the coldness of New York, remembering the warm tropical paradise of Cuba that I left behind, my art was the oxygen I needed and my drive to paint grew stronger.

During my adult years I discovered that I also had a love and knack for teaching others. At the age of seventeen I was hired by Coca Cola in their Human Resources Department where I was taught the art of dealing with humans by the best, the "Teamsters Union". My work environment provided me with a very steady stream of customers (employees) who wanted paintings of everything, from their wives and babies to the roman ruins. I continued my art studies but the teachers at the university had all given up on me as they following a traditional school or methodology. I believed that my brushes did what my brain dictated and there were no limitations in my world of lines and colors. I strive for my works to deliver a message. Whether happy or sad, unnerving or peaceful, the message must not only be seen but be felt by the viewer.

I became a mother and a wife at an early age and believe my second husband and children are the most beautiful chapters in my life. My family, friends and loved ones will always be a living canvas for me. I have been truly blessed with a love that not many people will find or experience in their lifetime. And then, there are the grandchildren and my family in México. Each one of them an ongoing inspiration.

At this stage of my life I have undertaken a lifelong dream, to dedicate all my time to my greatest passion, my art. During many of my travels around the globe I have found a breathtaking ghost town called Mineral de Pozos in Central Mexico. As I visit the ruins of these mining haciendas, I can sense the thriving community it once was. Full of faces, struggle, pain and treasures. My plan is to illustrate the abandoned ruins and the people to tell me the stories about this magical mining town.