Gemma Detti has a degree in Architecture from the University of Rome, but has always had a wide range of artistic interests, from painting and theatre to fashion and design. She practised as an architect in Italy during the 1980s, before marrying an Englishman and turning her attention increasingly toward developing her career as an artist.

In Tuscany during the 1990s, she studied advanced marbling and fresco techniques. Since moving to London in 2004 she has concentrated on painting on canvas using the special marbling techniques she developed. She describes her current work as intending 'to dress the bare wall in harmony with its architectural surroundings'.