Martin S. Willis was born in Boston on July 7, 1956 and spent his childhood years growing up on Winter Hill in Eliot, Maine (pastel below).

A second generation painter, he is the son of artist Morgan Willis, who he used to watch paint for hours (and clean his brushes). Martin started painting late in life, at the age of 42 as he was influenced by his longtime appreciation of art and began painting while living at the renown artist, Walt Kuhn’s property and handling hundreds of the artist’s works in the late 1990s. He took a few lessons with an artist friend, Pam Dulong Williams, and was mostly self taught.

He was a self representing gallery owner at 100 State Street in Portsmouth, NH for several years.  Exhibitions were held in several restaurants and galleries in the Seacoast area, including, The Cape Neddick Inn.

Willis traveled a lot throughout the country. He likes to capture the landscape wherever he is.  He enjoyed his time in the Southwest and was intrigued by the desert rocks which he enjoys painting. Abstract work from the imagination is another genre Martin enjoys exploring.

He relocated to Marin County in California in 2002 and moved back to Maine in 2011 where he currently paints in Spruce Head. Martin is a current member of the Knox County Art Society, was a former member of the Marin Society of Artists, North Tahoe Arts Association and The Tahoe Art League. During the COVID-19 shutdown, Martin has been focusing on painting.