July 3rd

Born this day in 1796, Maria Martin, artist. Martin was the artist who collaborated with John James Audubon! Audubon painted the bird and Maria Martin painted everything else. For twenty years she finished Audubon's paintings. And the publishers simply left her name out! Writing her out of history.
Audubon traveled to Charleston, SC in 1831 and met Rev. John Bachman who was a scientist and his sister-in-law was Maria Martin. Martin was already painting images for Bachman and Audubon admired her work and asked Maria Martin to collaborate with his paintings.
It is hard to image these paintings as complete works of art without the surroundings of nature in the trees, insects,flowers, water and sky.