Lin Martinique was born August 13, 1950 in Detroit, Michigan. The eldest of three daughters she displayed artistic talent early on. Her father James had a great interest in music; her mother Elizabeth had creative talent with interior design and fashion. The recurring role of Dance in Martinique’s paintings is from this early connection to her parents and their love of music and dance.

Martinique left Detroit in 1968 to live in Miami. Here she met artist Ginette Petrie and her husband, surrealist painter John Petrie. They were neighbors living in a beautiful Italian Renaissance apartment building called Ancaro. For one year Lin worked as an apprentice to Ginette. In the evenings she painted and developed her own style of painting.