Flemish painter of still-lifes. Born in Leeuwarden in 1611, Maerten (or Martinus) was a deaf-mute (hence his byname 'De Stomme'), who was recorded in Haarlem in 1642 where he was accepted as a pupil of Willem Claesz. Heda. He must have been a trained painter before he came to work in Heda's studio in 1642. Boelema's dated works only span a two-year period, from 1642 until 1644. There are about twenty signed still-lifes known by the artist. //