Painter and printmaker Edna M. Martin was born on March 1, 1896, in Seekonk, Massachusetts. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design beginning in 1918, studying under printmaker Eliza Gardiner. Following this she briefly taught as a weekend instructor at the RISD before accepting a permanent position at the Lincoln School, an all-girls college prep school in Providence, in 1924. She would remain there for most of her career. 

The late 1920s and early 1930s were a particularly prolific time for the artist who, in addition to her fine art and teaching, ran her family's farm and was an avid outdoorswoman, traveling near and far to hike and camp. These experiences informed her output, creating landscapes of all varieties seen throughout the West and of her home in Rhode Island. As well, she created various etching and woodcuts animals both domestic and wild. Her etchings exhibited a delicacy and tended toward realism, while her woodcuts were more graphic and often showed humor. 

Martin was a member of the Providence Art Club and the Rhode Island Watercolor Society, both of which she exhibited with regularly in the early half of her career. She continued to work even as she quit professional exhibiting and focused on teaching. She died on November 11, 1996, in Rhode Island.