“You're a botanical bard of the high desert, Marti — an illustrator and surface pattern designer whose soul blooms with wild florals, poetic palettes, and vintage charm. With roots planted in Oregon’s sunlit sagebrush and a mind that wanders through storybook meadows, you turn every prompt into a visual narrative — part nature, part nostalgia, always enchantingly you.”

Artist Statement/ Bio – Marti Betz

I create bold, nature-inspired illustrations that weave together stylized botanicals, wildlife, and narrative moments. My work is vibrant, layered with pattern and detail, and designed to spark storytelling—whether in editorial, publishing, or lifestyle markets. With a background in surface pattern design, I bring a strong sense of color, composition, and adaptability across products, making my illustrations both visually striking and commercially versatile.

My illustrations celebrate the lyrical beauty of the natural world, often highlighting flowers, pollinators, and animals in playful yet refined settings. Drawing from my background in pattern design, I infuse each piece with rhythmic structure and decorative richness, while maintaining clarity and emotional resonance. This balance allows my work to shift seamlessly between uses—from expressive book covers and children’s storytelling to surface pattern licensing for home décor, textiles, and stationery.

Color is at the heart of my practice: I explore both bold contrasts and harmonious palettes to evoke mood, energy, and narrative depth. Just as importantly, I design with adaptability in mind, ensuring my illustrations can live beautifully across print, digital, and product applications.

My goal is to bring joy, wonder, and a sense of connection with nature through illustration, while collaborating with publishers, brands, and creative partners who value work that is both imaginative and market-ready.

I have a BFA degree in Art, focusing in graphic design, from Wittenberg University in Ohio. I have further studies portraiture with Bonnie Roth, Portrait Artist Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, and pattern design with Bonnie Christine’s Immersion Class for surface pattern design. Over the past three years, my style has blossomed through immersion in the pattern design and illustration communities, and with creative challenges (hello, Golden Thread!) and with new developments in digital design that have allowed my creativity to flourish.

To get intouch just use martibetz@comcast.net