A native of Sheffield, Alabama, Martha Carpenter graduated in 1973 from Alabama School of the Fine Arts in Birmingham. She then acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, supplemented by attendance at Kentucky Institute for European Studies in Bregenz, Austria, and extensive European study-travel on three occasions.

In 1983, she exhibited her paintings at the Centre International D'Art Contemporain in Paris, France as participant in a Salon des Nations Exhibition promoting independent American artists. Throughout her career Carpenter has had numerous exhibition experiences and publications which have culminated in a consistent influx of private and corporate portrait commissions.

In addition to her work as a portrait artist, for eight years she served as art director, designer and illustrator in the advertising field and as art instructor for the University of Wisconsin in Green Bay. Currently based in Jekyll Island Georgia, her work is marketed nationwide through galleries, agencies and private exhibitions.