Ethel Mars was born in Springfield, Illinois, and studied at an early age at the Cincinnati Art Academy. Toward the end of 1905/beginning of 1906, she moved to Paris and remained there until she was part of the original group of expats to flee Paris during World War I, settling in Provincetown in the summer of 1915, alongside Blanche Lazzell and Maud Squire, her long-term partner. In Paris, Mars and Squire were friends of Gertrude Stein, frequenting her infamous salons where they befriended Picasso and Matisse. Mars was already known for her color woodcuts and was a member of Société des Beaux-Arts, regularly exhibiting her work at Salon d'Automne and teaching printmaking to visiting American artists. After creating work as a Provincetown Printer, Mars and Squire eventually moved back to France, where they continued to make prints and illustrate children's books until their deaths in the late 1950s.
