Martha Negley

For 40+ years I’ve been painting decorative patterns. In the late ‘70s, after art school I started as a colorist for a small textile company in New York that was producing women’s apparel fabrics. For extra money, I worked out repeats on the side. It was a memorable time living in one of the only women’s hotels in an exciting city, but I was broke! 

I re-located to the Midwest to work for a greeting card company and for many years designed giftwrap and paper plate patterns. I started to overlap that with freelancing for home décor fabric and wallpaper companies, and finally in 1994 I decided to leave and start my own design company. Ten years later I met Kaffe Fasset and Liza Prior Lucy who were walking SURTEX, the surface design show in New York where I exhibited every spring and that led to many happy years of working with Westminster Fabrics. I took a break in 2014, and I’m now returning to painting for FreeSpirit Fabrics. I still live and work in Kansas City, painting, growing roses, baking, fly fishing,doing volunteer work and caring for my old wire fox terrier.

Martha Negley

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