Hi, I am Sylvia Marina Martinez, a Chicana/Honduran-American artist and designer from Los Angeles with a passion for research and history. My art is inspired by MesoAmerican folk culture & art, nature, music, and human & civil rights. I first worked as a researcher in academia and public health. I later left that field to work at the Smithsonian Folkways doing marketing and public relations. I then spent 9 years at the Grammy Awards managing the American Roots (folk/blues/traditional) categories.

I started the music blog rootnotemusic.com in 2009.

In 2015, I left the Grammys to start The Cozy Casita, which specialized in handcrafted wood and tile trays with a nod to Mexican tile. My work was featured on several design blogs and gift guides.

In 2018. I had a stroke that rendered me partially paralyzed., which made the tile work extremely difficult. I fell in love with mixed media collage art and graphic design as my previous physically demanding work was not viable with the hemiplegia.

My career as an artist came full circle when I did the cover art for Dom Flemons’ 2023 Grammy-nominated Folk album, Traveling Wildfire, which was put out on the Smithsonian Folkways label