Martin John Botham was born in 1963 in Grahamstown, located in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, where he grew up and matriculated after an interlude of two years at the Drakensberg Boys Choir School. He went on to study art at Rhodes University, following his passion for art.
After completing a Bachelor of Fine Art Honors degree, John taught art for sixteen years in South Africa and in England. He then embarked on a career as a full time artist.