Peggy McGivern
Coming from three generations of accomplished artist Peggy McGivern grew up knowing what her path in life would be. Not always an easy one, raising two children on her own, but she has worked as a full time artist since 1978 when she started selling her work in a pub in Manchester, England where she and her children lived till early 1980. Returning to the states, she and her children settled in Tulsa, Oklahoma where she was a founding member of the Tulsa Artist’s Coalition and along with several talented artists opened the “Tulsa Center for Contemporary Art” which is still thriving today, showcasing avant guard visual artists, musicians, actors and sculptors. During this period, Peggy was working on her own career, landing spots in premier galleries across the Southwest. In 1990 Peggy moved back to her home town of Denver and opened her own gallery. Genre Artisans Center was a success for over 10 years and received numerous awards including Best New Gallery and Empowering a Neighborhood. “Closing the doors was difficult but I knew it was time to focus on my own art again”. When you look at her body of work from the 80s, 90's to present there is a wavy line of connection between then and now. Beginning as an abstract artist, then somewhere in the 90’s Peggy moved to a more traditional style, and now almost 30 years later she is reaching back to her roots, working on abstracting her narrative. In her words “There always has to be a glimmer of truth in my work”. She usually works in series using a color palette reminiscent of the 1940's. Rich, toned colors of burnt orange, rusty red with subtle brass and lime greens held together with shadows of warm plum and soft charcoal, she depicts the people and places she has encountered in her travels around the world. Today she spends her time between her two homes in Denver and Taos and still travels extensively with her husband Peter Stravlo, both in search for more subject matter, Peggy for her paintings and Peter for his writings. They have combined their talents to create distinctive exhibits. Peggy’s Art work, with Peters poetry narrative to go with it from places like Cuba, Romania, France, Ireland, Italy, Croatia as well as The Virgin Island, Porto Rico and Crete.
