Born in 1928 in Newport News, Virginia, Drexler studied at the College of William and Mary in Virginia prior to relocating to New York. While there, the artist studied under the exalted painters Robert Motherwell and Hans Hofmann at Hunter College in the late 1950s. Motherwell’s technical and philosophical, ‘process oriented,’ approach, combined with Hofmann’s guidance on color theory and composition were profoundly significant regarding Drexler’s stylistic development. Her kaleidoscopic patchworks and loose and dynamic brushwork are considerably rooted in Hoffman’s “push-pull'' theory. Chiefly galvanized by color, her idiosyncratic work evokes the zest of Henri Matisse with motifs reminiscent of Gustav Klimt’s jewel-like details.

In 1961, Drexler met, and subsequently married, the painter John Hultberg at “The Club,” a salon of sorts that included nearly every member of the New York School. Additionally, the artist would have her first solo exhibition at Tanager Gallery that same year. Drexler and Hultberg split their time between New York and Monhegan Island in Maine where the artist sketched en plein air before reconstructing her illustrations as sumptuous and vibrantly abstract landscapes. She permanently moved to Maine in 1983 and passed away in 1999.

Throughout her career, the artist exhibited at the Esther Robles Gallery in Los Angeles and the Westerly Gallery in New York. Her works remain in important collections including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Portland Museum of Art in Maine, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York.