The Life and Artistic Journey of Margaret Peterson
Born in Seattle, United States, Margaret Peterson was an American painter of abstract art. After studying at the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated in 1926, she joined the faculty of Fine Arts in 1928. Her career was marked by significant travel and academic engagement, including a funded trip to Europe in 1931 and a period spent in Cowichan Bay, British Columbia, between 1947 and 1948 to study Indigenous Art. Following her departure from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1950, she moved to New York and later founded a painting school in San Francisco in 1952. She eventually moved to Victoria, British Columbia, in 1956 and remained active in the art community there, creating mosaics and participating in exhibitions until her death in 1997.
Technique and Artistic Vision
Peterson's artistic practice was characterized by a deep interest in form and spirituality. She was known to work primarily in egg tempera rather than oil paints, a choice connected to her interest in Medieval European painting. This technique involved mixing colors through overlapping layers on her canvas. Her work was influenced by several factors, including:
She viewed every line and brush stroke as a vital element of a total composition, seeking to give form to universal forces through her use of space and color.
