Born 6th January 1952 into a very artistic family Maris Zammit is one of six children. She spent most of her childhood and youth in Sliema. She loved motorsport and participated in Hillclimbs, Motor Rallies, Offroading and other forms of motorsport for 18 years till sometime in 1999 just before she took up art.
One day she was in Gozo and had nothing to do where usually she would go up for a race. This time around she was given a box of children's watercolours with a " Miss Piggy " on the cover and a paint book and decided to copy a picture of a Maltese Dghajsa which was on the wall. It turned out pretty good seeing it was her very first effort. From then on, there was no turning back . She bought books and magazines and started copying almost everything she saw.
Maris decided she wanted to explore and expand her artistic self ,so she decided to go for art tuition under Harry Alden and later with Anton Calleja.
In 2001 she was encouraged to have her first exhibition. This was held at the Artisan centre at Bay Street where 15 watercolour paintings were exhibited. The exhibition was named "Tal-Franka" (a kind of Maltese stone and was fairly successful, being given some very fair comments by the scores of people who viewed them.
This encouraged Maris to carry on painting. In 2004, another solo exhibition followed at the Barumbara Art Café' at the Mgarr Hotel, Gozo. This was name Serendipity and 30 watercolours went on display.
Apart from these two solo exhibitions Maris has taken part in a number of collective exhibitions. These included the ones held by the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce of which she is a member. Two of Maris' paintings won a Special Mention Award. One is in oils and is a Still Life and the other is a Watercolour portrait of a Gozitan farmer with rugged looks, which she named "Ir-Ruxxan".
In 2004, apart from her own exhibition, Maris also took part in two exhibitions with seven other women. These were called "Eight women in Gozo" held at the Banca Giuratale in Gozo and 'Eight Women in Historic Towns" which was held at the Auberge D'Italie in Valletta.
Other exhibitions include 'Unita' where various established artists participate once a year in Marsascala and The Eden Foundation Exhibition, held annually in Gozo.
In 2005, an exhibition was held between 3 artists - Maris, Caroline Lawrence and Joe Barbara. "Visions of the Sea" was held as one of the activities to coincide with the launch of the 7th edition of the magazine "Yachting in Malta' by Wilfred Sultana.
Recently Maris also participated in a collective exhibition entitled - Glorious Gozo. This was held at the Hilton Hotel. A book was launched to commemorate the occasion.
Currently, Maris' foremost interest is spending time with her son Michael and her beautiful baby grand daughter Paige whilst painting for her new solo exhibition.
"From sea crafts to old farmhouses, seascapes, people and typical landscapes, her passions are subtle, colours are soft and her works kindle that familiar aesthetical beauty that is close to home and nostalgic to the heart" (Nadine Cini - art critic).
