Martha Rea Baker is a painter and printmaker working primarily in encaustic (melted beeswax fused with heat), oil and cold wax and acrylic collage. She enjoys combining materials, textures and images in her thought-provoking mixed media paintings. The subjects, whether figurative, architectural or abstract, are often presented in a dramatic setting with theatrical lighting and shallow space. Through layers of paint, wax or ink, she weaves a rich tapestry of life——past, present and future.
Born in Corsicana, Texas, Martha spent her formative years in Clinton, Mississippi and attended the University of Mississippi from 1962-1964. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Santa Barbara, Martha returned to her native Texas where she and her husband raised three sons while living in the Dallas area for forty years. She co-owned Gallery VIII in Plano, Texas for twenty-one years before relocating with her husband to Santa Fe in December of 2006.
Martha studied art at the University of Dallas and printmaking at Collin College, Plano TX, as well as art foreign studies in Greece, Italy, Russia, France, Germany, the Czech Republic and Mexico. Her work has been published in Southwest Art: “Women in the Arts”, November, 1996 and Watercolor, March 1998. Splash V, the Best of Watercolor, the Glory of Color, features her painting, “Stage of Antiquity”.
Represented by Karan Ruhlen Gallery, Santa Fe, NM www.karanruhlen.com
Represented by Brown’s Fine Art, Jackson MS since 1991. www.brownsfineart.com
Represented by Gallery VIII Fine Art since 1982. In 2003, Gallery VIII closed the bricks and mortar gallery in Plano, TX to become an on-line gallery, exclusively. www.gallery8.com
Martha painting in the window of the Dallas, TX Neiman Marcus flagship store
