Most wildlife artists use ordinary pigment and oil.Peggy Marra pours the essence of wild into her paint.You can see it in the portrait of an eyes-afire bullelephant. He swirls in a tornadic cloud of dust as he charges theviewer, eye-to-eye, trunk-to-nose. The canvas is huge, addingsize and drama to an already chilling moment.Peggy often poses her animals in a head-on view so that thesoul of the animal – revealed through its eyes — are a dominantfocus of the painting.It’s no surprise Peggy is a sought-after animal-portrait painter.She has been drawing forever and painting since 16. She and herhusband opened an art gallery in Montreal. It wasn’t long beforethey opened another, and a third in Boca Raton, Florida. Shefelt like she worked 25/7(sic). Her own painting got neglected. Itwas time for a change.Twenty years ago, she moved to Sapphire.Peggy says, “I began painting again, inspired by the multitudeof wildlife living in the area.”She started painting bears and local wildlife. She also tookpersonal photo tours out west. She says, “I love to paint wolvesbut have also had surprising success with mountain lions, griz-zlies, red foxes, bison, bobcat, elk (Western and Carolinian),raccoons – even coyotes.”One of her favorite things to paint is people’s beloved pets. Tocatch the character of the animal, usually dogs (but also catsand horses), she likes to take a multitude of photos and spendsome time with each animal to get an idea of its personality. “To me it is important to catch that personality, becausethat is what makes him/her special,” she says. “I love to seethe happiness of the owners when I present them with thefinished portrait. A few times people have actually burstinto tears – I’m always glad and relieved to hear they aretears of happiness.”Her work is available at the Summer House in Highlands.She will also be showing at the Art League of Highlands-Cashiers Fall Colors Show in October. You can contactPeggy through peggymarra.com, at peggymarra@gmail.com, or by calling (828) 577-3415. Studio visits are byappointment only.
by Donna Rhodes
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