Mahrea Cramer Lehman

Mahrea Cramer Lehman (March 21, 1896 - July 5, 1991) became interested in art at the age of four through painting, but out of necessity she had to paint without actual paints. Instead, she used crushed flowers, sandstone, and charcoal. At the time, she lived on the family farm in Licking County. She became versed in adding color to black and white photos and then worked with pen and ink, oil, sculpting, poetry, and watercolor. For a living, she painted thousands of portraits and landscapes in the United States and throughout Europe where she lived for many years. In her older years, she painted watercolor Christmas cards for fun to friends across the globe. She met her husband, Paul Lehman, when they were both attending college at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Later, he became a teacher at the school while she held a job as a commercial artist in the 1920s.

S.H.