Bernice Fenwick Martin was born in 1902 in Shelburne, Ontario. In the 1920s and '30s Martin studied at the Ontario College of Art under J.W. Beatty and Franklin Carmichael, both mentors who personally instructed and encouraged her.  Martin met the artist Peter Clapham Sheppard in 1941 and the two remained friends and sketching companions until Sheppard's death in 1965. Martin exhibited at the Royal Canadian Academy, the Quebec Museum of Fine Arts, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Martin also had solo shows at T. Eaton Co.'s College Street Fine Art Gallery, Casa Loma, and the Guild of All Arts. Her paintings have also been featured in the Royal Canadian Academy exhibitions from 1945 to 1947. Her works may be found in many private, corporate, and public collections including the National Gallery of Canada.