ABOUT THE ARTIST
Trained as a lawyer, presently a lemon farmer, award-winning artist Peggy Ludington returned to painting in 2010 after a 35-year hiatus. Her vibrantly colored work reveals a deep connection with animals and nature. Her abstract paintings showcase her intuitive understanding of color and its metaphysical properties.
Born and raised in Long Beach, California, she demonstrated early artistic talent. Her mother recognized her gift and started her in oil painting lessons. Peggy continued developing her art at Pepperdine University, but had a growing fascination with academic pursuits. This led her to law school.
After graduating from UCLA, she practiced law for 16 years. She married, raised two sons, wrote two manuscripts, worked as an environmental activist, and bought a lemon farm. Still, she yearned to paint.
She joined a local landscape painting class taught by Carolyn Counnas, who helped her develop her instinctive use of color. Since then, Peggy expanded her study by training with nationally acclaimed artists, like Mark Daniel Nelson, Quang Ho, Lynn Gertenbach, Mitchell Albala, Sarah J. Webber, Timothy Horn, and Linda St. Clair.
Peggy lives in the countryside of Ventura County with her husband Alan, their Goldendoodle Scooby, “Labrasheppy” Juno, a pride of four shelter cats, and 3,600 lemon trees.
About Peggy’s Style:
A strong sense of light and shadow dominates her work. However, vibrant color is her trademark. A deep understanding of value makes this possible. She begins each painting using the “wipe out” method—toning her canvas with a mid-value wash, then wiping out the lights and adding in the darks. She describes this process of creating the illusion of form as “more like sculpting, than painting.” The result is a monochromatic map that allows her expressive use of color.
While painting, Peggy entwines herself with her subjects. This gives each piece an emotional quality in both origin and impact. Her style has been described as Formal Expressionism.
