After an 18-year professional career in music with part-time painting, in 1985 Peggie rededicated herself to painting.  She turned her focus to vibrant portraits of children in pastel and acrylics. One of those paintings, “Shelby,” won Best of Show at the 1990 Festival of Arts in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Two years later as she stood in the middle of acres of peonies in Sherwood, Oregon, Peggie visualized a vase of blooms on a small table, with flower fields stretching to the horizon.  This inspiration launched a series of 40 paintings, “Flower Fields of the Willamette Valley I and II.” In 1996, the Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery accepted two oil paintings from the series, “Jewels of Spring” and “Tahiti," establishing a relationship with the gallery that continues today.

In 2004, Peggie's humorous side found an outlet in an unusual commission -- the owners of Fir Point Farms in Aurora, Oregon, asked her to paint all 42 U.S. presidents on farm-grown pumpkins. These portraits proved so popular that Peggie was featured on Portland TV news programs and in The Oregonian newspaper over several years.

In 2010, Peggie’s oil painting “Grieg No. 4”, a Maine Coon lounging on an Oriental rug, appeared in the Harrison Ford / Brendan Frasier movie, Extraordinary Measures.  Harrison’s dialogue, after Brendan sees the painting on the wall: “Ex-wife, she loved cats.”

Peggie continues to be inspired by the dramatic beauty of the Northwest.  Using techniques pioneered by the Impressionists, she paints in oils on location to capture the peak moment of light and color.  Impressionists call this technique en plein air or "in the open air." Peggie's work reflects this glowing aesthetic, giving inspiration and joy to the viewer.