My artwork draws its life from nature, from flowing organic lines, from the grace and
expression of the human form. The joy of "making" is compelling, and creativity,
blossoming into manifestation, is one of the still center points of my life. Always
strongly interested in drawing, painting and sculpture in my youth, I went on to major in
art and received my BA from Fort Lewis College in 1983. In the next few years I painted
quite a bit non-professionally, concentrating on luminous lighting and subtle blending of
colors. I began to work with clay in 1987,working thru the local potter's co-op and
independent study at Indiana University. My first professional showing was at the
Women's Music Festival, at Indiana University, in 1989, and, with heady response to my
work, I began to apply to shows, and make my living as an artist, hand sculpting each
piece of artwork, often combining them with wheel thrown functional forms. My interest
soon centered on feminist and nature inspired spirituality, as interpreted by the human
form, and my most successful venues emphasized those qualities. As my knowledge and
skill progressed, my little people took on a fluidity and grace, and, similar to a "gesture
drawing", body language became intuitively expressive in my work. During this time
period my business was named "Matria", honoring the divine feminine still prominent in
my work.
I met my husband Zeeb in 1993, and we soon realized we wanted to combine our art
and our lives, our interest and experience with clay dovetailing and complimenting each
other magically. I continued to focus completely on sculpture, while his interest in
throwing, glazing, and firing brought a new beauty and grace to the functional forms, his
deliciously blended airbrush glazes brought color to the work, and helped inspire the
elegantly flowing wings that sprouted on my little creations, as much as the flower and
tree, leaf and celestial themes also inspired by nature. This new direction seemed
especially well suited to the Renaissance Faires, and, with the fanciful, sparkling
environments we created, we traveled the country, selling our artwork, becoming known
as "the Fayrie Garden".'
I've continued to individually sculpt each figure, and the range of my work has grown
over time. While continuing to create small clay sculpture; around 2000 , I began
experimenting with wood/clay combination mixed media sculpture, and both including
them in our continuing shows and entering them separately in gallery shows. These
pieces tend to be larger, emotionally complex, and work with mythological and
psychological themes in a more abstractly humanistic form, deriving their themes from
the forms suggested in the wood. As I've developed my personal technique and Zeeb has
been working on rustic furniture, we have taken on the business name Feywood. We feel
this encompasses the entirety of our work together.
Education
B.A. Fine Art- Fort Lewis College, Durango Co.- 1983
John Paul (Zeeb) Peterson
I have spent my entire career working and playing with light and colour. At the Art
Institute of Pittsburgh, I learned the Zone System of photographic exposure, which taught me to pre-visualize.
While studying Graphic-Arts at College of DuPage, I also took up Pottery classes, becoming the Laboratory Assistant. In this capacity I learned glaze formulation
and how to fire kilns.
After a career in Graphic Arts, I met my wife, Beth Rosemarie, in 1993 starting a
collaboration that still persists.
In the last decade I have developed a love for woodwork and furniture building in a
semi-rustic naturalistic style.