throughout
my education that gave me the confidence to pursue a degree in Fine Arts,
which I completed in 1989 at the New York Institute of Technology .
My childhood in New York was very active, with a lot of children playing in the streets and parks. I was very physically active, playing ball, riding my bike, chasing boys, and performing in street theatre. It seems that my love for physical movement had carried over into my style of painting, as I create best when I am standing up, engaging my whole body.
While my childhood in Queens was very exciting culturally, I was not in touch with nature. The photos I saw in magazines that captured natures' profound beauty were like dreams to me, images on a page, not real places in the world. When my family moved out of the city to settle on the tip of Long Island, I was surrounded by ocean and woods throughout my high-school years.
My relationship to the world dramatically changed when I began having intimate and spiritual experiences with the natural world. These experiences with nature influenced my life and art work until today.
The combination of the redwoods, progressive-minded people and the art program were idyllic for me. I completed 3 years in the Fine Art Program of HSU, prior to completing my degree in New York. I had my first and only beautiful son during my second year at HSU, while I worked as the graphic designer for the HSU newsroom, and attended full-time classes.
In 1985, my life took an unexpected turn. The task of raising my son alone and the death of my dearest brother, brought me back to New York to live near my family and complete my education.
I attended college at Old Westbury, N.Y. while I initiated the glass etching department for Townsend Glass Studios in Manhattan for my artistic employment. Those designs are still selling today to Nieman Marcus, Steuben Glass, and other famous clientele.
I graduated with high honors from N.Y.I.T. and taught secondary Art Education for a few years after graduation. During this period I created my first trompe l'oeil mural in 1992 of an English café for an English Café. I discovered that I was among the top muralists in the New Jersey area. And was published in two magazines that following year.
Having received numerous commisssions since 1993, I finally moved to Napa Valley in 2004. I am quickly asserting myself in the art community and find the lighting of the wine country exquisite, comparable to the Mediterranean light.
Napa Valley gives me nature, and cultural access to the Bay Area art scene. I travel periodically to Humboldt as well as New York for clients as well as family and friends.
My childhood in New York was very active, with a lot of children playing in the streets and parks. I was very physically active, playing ball, riding my bike, chasing boys, and performing in street theatre. It seems that my love for physical movement had carried over into my style of painting, as I create best when I am standing up, engaging my whole body.
While my childhood in Queens was very exciting culturally, I was not in touch with nature. The photos I saw in magazines that captured natures' profound beauty were like dreams to me, images on a page, not real places in the world. When my family moved out of the city to settle on the tip of Long Island, I was surrounded by ocean and woods throughout my high-school years.
My relationship to the world dramatically changed when I began having intimate and spiritual experiences with the natural world. These experiences with nature influenced my life and art work until today.
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After graduating
high-school I had a year at home to enjoy life while caring for my grandmom. It was during this year when my soul began to unfold. I began writing, meditating, yoga, dancing and creating paintings & pastels . The following year, after grandma passed away, I left home to see more of life...I moved to Southhampton, surrounded by the Atlantic coast. I loved living in Southampton and became quickly known for creating murals, being commissioned for my first mural at the age of 18. After a year in Southhampton , I decided to take a trip to see the redwood forest when a friend of mine had returned from Northern California, bringing back samples of the bark of the redwood trees. After touching the bark and seeing photos of the redwoods, I packed my backpack and headed west. I fell in love with the redwoods and Arcata, and enrolled in Humboldt State University. |
The combination of the redwoods, progressive-minded people and the art program were idyllic for me. I completed 3 years in the Fine Art Program of HSU, prior to completing my degree in New York. I had my first and only beautiful son during my second year at HSU, while I worked as the graphic designer for the HSU newsroom, and attended full-time classes.
In 1985, my life took an unexpected turn. The task of raising my son alone and the death of my dearest brother, brought me back to New York to live near my family and complete my education.
I attended college at Old Westbury, N.Y. while I initiated the glass etching department for Townsend Glass Studios in Manhattan for my artistic employment. Those designs are still selling today to Nieman Marcus, Steuben Glass, and other famous clientele.
I graduated with high honors from N.Y.I.T. and taught secondary Art Education for a few years after graduation. During this period I created my first trompe l'oeil mural in 1992 of an English café for an English Café. I discovered that I was among the top muralists in the New Jersey area. And was published in two magazines that following year.
| To further pursue my creative visions, my son, Gaelon, and I moved back to Northern California. I taught art education part -time while I became a well-known muralist in Arcata. Arcata truly nurtured the fine artist within me for those 8 years and opened doors for my authentic creative expressions to be exhibited. Although Arcata was deeply supportive emotionally, I found my financial support to be in the Wine Country of Napa Valley, where the love for wall art and frescoes truly thrived. |
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Having received numerous commisssions since 1993, I finally moved to Napa Valley in 2004. I am quickly asserting myself in the art community and find the lighting of the wine country exquisite, comparable to the Mediterranean light.
Napa Valley gives me nature, and cultural access to the Bay Area art scene. I travel periodically to Humboldt as well as New York for clients as well as family and friends.
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© Peri S. Pfenninger.
All Rights Reserved. Art may not be reproduced in any manner without
permission from the artist.
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When
I was 5 years old, my family of seven attended the World's Fair in Queens,
N.Y., where Michaelangelo's Pieta was on display. I remember
standing before this magnificent sculpture as it imprinted its profound creation
on my psyche.
At the age of 7, a city-wide school competition chose one of my paintings to be exhibited in the courtyard of Bloomingdales, NYC. It was this kind of encouragement
At the age of 7, a city-wide school competition chose one of my paintings to be exhibited in the courtyard of Bloomingdales, NYC. It was this kind of encouragement
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