By Peggy Leonard
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Willow Shadows at Chenequa" is an original pastel drawing on canson paper by Peggy Leonard. The artist signed the piece lower left. It depicts a row of willow trees with deep shadows. The artist used variations of green and blue.
12 3/4" x 19 1/2" art
18 3/4" x 26" frame
Peggy Leonard received her BFA in painting and drawing and an associate’s degree in nursing from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She is both a registered nurse, and accomplished artist, residing in Milwaukee, WI.
From the artist:
“These paintings are my prayers,” muses Leonard, reflecting on her driving need to express herself through her art. “We are made of the stuff that requires us to respond with our hearts and hands. Often, it requires terrible sacrifice and suffering, something not everyone can understand. But it is done with reverence of life, not irreverence.”
Leonard’s pastels and oil paintings capture her reverence of life and reflect her own life’s journey, including earlier forays into the wilderness. Her venture into art began in early childhood, as childless neighbors nurtured her natural ability to draw; concurrently, Leonard’s parents instilled a respect for academic excellence and the higher order of nurturing others.
As a young nurse, Leonard “heard and saw poignant messages to travel while one was young and free…while one had one’s health.” Consequently, she took to the open road and public lands, camping across America for months at a time. During these years, her “celebration of the natural splendor of this country” helped shape her sense of artistic expression. She was moved by such sights as the sunset on St. Mary’s Lake...
Category
1990s Contemporary Art by Medium: Pastel