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Bio

Growing up in a privileged and loving Mexican-American home in Mexico City, it would have been more surprising had Marta Gottfried Wiley not become an artist. Surrounded by her doting parents, her grandmother and extended family, Marta says her childhood was almost magical. She fondly recalls many long days spent painting, creating plays and listening to or playing musical instruments with her sister and cousins. Not only did her family love the arts, they lived the arts.

Marta has been painting ever since she could hold a paintbrush in her hand. Martha Gottfried, Marta's grandmother, a famous artist in Mexico was a tremendous influence on the direction Marta would take in life. Besides being Marta's personal hero, she lovingly guided Marta towards the arts and in particular, painting. With other famous artists, such as Frida Kahlo, frequently visiting the Gottfried home, what seemed ordinary at the time she now realizes was talented individuals sharing their passion for painting and encouraging her through word and deed.

The rich and colorful Mexican culture, where Marta was raised, adds another dimension to her being. Unable to articulate exactly how, she knows the beauty and extremes of Mexico influenced her thinking and painting. And the sensitivity, that is deeply ingrained in the Mexican culture, was another gift that was passed on to her.

At the age of nine, Marta's parents moved to Miami, FL. There, she was enrolled in Magnet Schools that focused on the arts. By the time she graduated, she had been selling her paintings for three years. She went on to the Otis Parsons School of Design, in Los Angeles, California, where she was under a full academic scholarship, and graduated in 1992.

As a young woman, one of Marta's favorite things to do was to go to a café and ask people who were sitting there about their dreams. She would then paint them living their dream. Another tact she still uses is to stop someone in the middle of a conversation and take the person's photo with the camera that she always carries. Their emotion, or even the background, may have evoked deep feelings in her, and she wants to retain that moment so she can paint it.

Marta is a prolific artist who paints in nearly every medium. "I paint because it hurts not to," she says. "Pain is in the word painting."

Surreal landscapes, animals and loose figures, especially dancers, are her favorite subjects to paint. Her dreamscape style may be a watercolor, etching, drawing or oil. She prefers oils because, she says, her paintings have many layers. It is like looking into a magical pond where the surface is painted, but one can continue to go deeper and deeper. With oils, she can create many layers, which adds to that feeling.

She wants her paintings to evoke a feeling of peace and happiness and reflect the beauty that she sees in the world. And she hopes that people viewing her artwork will find some respite from their day-to-day lives and feel rested after seeing it.

Married to her art for the time being, Marta also sculpts in clay, modeling clay and some bronze. She plays the classical guitar and is in a band that plays weekly to various audiences. Biking around her country home and practicing yoga are two of her hobbies. She writes, cooks Mexican food, and sews her own clothes. High energy does not even begin to describe this woman.

She says that Rosenbaum Fine Arts came into her life at exactly the right time, and is the home that she needed. Excellence is her mantra, and there, she is allowed the freedom to do her best. That makes her very happy.

Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso are two greats that she admires. If she is called the female Warhol or Picasso of her generation, she will achieved her goal. And you can't help but feel that for this young artist, who is enchanted by the process of creation, that it just might happen.

MARTAWILEY