Wendy Peterson
Wendy's work springs from her continual gentle observation of the world around her. Her current body of work is focused on landscapes and waterscapes with an emphasis on serenity and reflection. She enjoys the never-ending challenge of the art journey and seeks out a variety of subject matter to grow and expand her skills. No matter the subject, her goal is to capture the essence of what drew her to the scene. It is her desire that others will find a connection to her work and perhaps be transported through space and time to a fond memory of their own.
Wendy's creativity was obvious at a very young age and her mother was always her number one fan. Art as a career never entered her mind, and she instead followed the corporate path and enjoyed a long and successful career in the insurance industry. In 2019, she took a short art retreat cruise to spend time exploring her creativity. It was a life-changing decision that set a course for her artistic journey.
In 2020 she created a rigid self-directed art school curriculum which she followed for two years. Her “classes” included in-person workshops, online training, many, many, many books, and the creation of a quarterly portfolio. She continues to take two or more workshops with award-winning artists each year. Soft Pastel is her primary medium but enjoys watercolor and gouache for travel sketching and more recently began painting in oil.
Wendy is currently the President of the Lake Country Pastel Society in Minnesota. She is an award-winning artist and is excited to be working with the White Bear Center for the Arts and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to teach pastel classes in 2024.
In 2023 Wendy retired from her insurance agency creating space to pursue her life as an artist near the beautiful St. Croix River in Wisconsin with her husband Dan.
![wendypeterson wendypeterson](https://whitebeararts.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/wendypeterson.jpg)
“Thank you, Wendy!
This was the best class yet and that is saying a lot as I have enjoyed a number of wonderful classes at the White Bear Center for the Arts.” –Intro to Pastels
“Wendy was an excellent instructor. It was like taking a high school art class and I mean that as a compliment. She was well organized, had a clear outline, followed it, and covered a lot. I was reminded about the color wheel, values, and hue--things I had not thought about in a long time. I liked the thumbnail approach to the landscape painting.” –Intro to Pastels