Artist Pegi Smith creates charming dreamlike imagery, using rich color to evoke raw emotion. See more of her portfolio by visiting her website.

I was born in Canada and I always knew I was an artist! I have always been fascinated and in wonder of most everything in nature. This remains the same today.

I remember illustrating a small book of flowers and fairies for my mother when I was about six or seven. She loved it, or so it seemed. I loved arranging flowers from the garden or from the wild. Really, anything artistic in nature drew me in. Living in a rural area for most of my life, nature was always just outside my door.

I studied violin beginning at age eight and still play fifty-seven years later. I’ve had many bands of different genres throughout the years, have played electric violin and sang. I also studied ballet and modern dance for over a decade.

In the early nineties I began making pottery. I was self-taught and exhibited in galleries as well as stores.

One day in April of 2006, I took what I had left of my father’s painting supplies (he was quite an accomplished painter) and tossed them out onto the deck. I began painting with no clue as to what I was doing. That very day changed my life.

I had an epiphany! I began to teach myself, and have painted every day from then on. To this day, nearly fourteen years later, I still love the spontaneous aspect of experimentation.

My technique is somewhat like controlled chaos—something I don’t often speak of, as I like to keep a bit of mystery to my works.

I use a lot of color, although it didn’t begin that way. My paintings are bolder the older I get. I mostly paint with acrylic on canvas and my subject matter varies greatly depending on where I am in my life at the time.

I have painted many commissioned works and continue to do so. They are wonderfully challenging! I’m inspired by nature, and this shines through in many of my works. My subjects often include wolves, owls, horses, ravens, birds, flowers and more, with an abstract twist.

Spirituality and symbolism have also found their way into my works. My hope is to evoke raw and real emotion in my works.

Artist Pegi Smith invites you to follow her on Facebook and Pinterest.

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