Born in Atlanta, Lucy May Stanton studied in LaGrange, Georgia, and lived some of the time in Athens, Georgia. She painted many eminent Georgians, including Atlanta mayor Charles Collier, author Joel Chandler Harris and (posthumously) Speaker of the House Howell Cobb. She created works in oil, pastel and watercolor but is best known for her portrait miniatures in watercolor on ivory. She sometimes called this nearly life-size portrait "Arrangement in White and Green," as an homage to Whistler.