Watercolour · Calligraphy · Porcelain
Giving life to silent and unmoving figures of stone and metal — and putting a hand-painted mark on the things people keep.
I have worked in a variety of mediums — oil, Chinese brush painting, ceramics, porcelain and sculpture — but now find my direction in calligraphy.
Having discovered the uniqueness of watercolour in Singapore when I learned Chinese brush painting, I continue to be challenged by the nuance and mystery of watercolour’s transparency. Being primarily a watercolour artist, I have evolved into calligraphy, which incorporates my love of letterforms and water-based mediums. I have been privileged to study with some of the most renowned calligraphers in the United States.
Art has helped me transcend all major transitions in my life, especially through the loss that accompanies death and change. For the past fifteen years I have found solace painting watercolours of monumental sculptures. I feel compelled to give life to these silent and unmoving figures of stone and metal as a tribute to their strength. These monuments often stand as lone guardians of our precious loves, and testaments to forgotten sacrifices. They stand unchanged when all we know is threatened, compromised, or destroyed.
I work in watercolour, an unforgiving medium — as is loss.
I enjoy the use of water as a colour itself, as well as the ethereal quality revealed in the white of the paper. Choosing a fluid medium to represent solid mass is a paradox. Scale has added an additional challenge but has brought more reality to my figures. I often use hot press paper, which allows me to stain the entire surface of the sheet and then lift colour — contrasting whites with darker pigments, allowing a positive image to emerge from the negative field; finding the mystery within.
Weather etches a monument’s surface as its canvas, with lichen, erosion, mildew and oxidation. The motionless statues challenge me to find a narrative through light, angle, space and their aging surface. Human life may be transitory, but together, the statues and I face the constant friction of change while resolving to remain strong and calm. I owe them the tribute of my canvas, as one way of thanking them for their healing balm.
— Peggy Williams
Plate I
Watercolour on hot press paper
Monumental sculpture, studied over fifteen years.
Plate II
Watercolour
Liberty, and the figures that stand guard.
Plate III
Chinese brush painting, ink and watercolour
Learned in Singapore; still the root of everything.
Plate IV
Watercolour and pencil, commissioned
People, homes and the animals of the house.
Plate V
Watercolour, commissioned
Painted from your own photographs.
Plate VI
Pointed pen, copperplate, italic and modern hands
Envelopes, monograms, vows and illustrated maps. Each hand is named — choose the one that suits the occasion.
Plate VII
Pen and colour on paper
Designed to order, for weddings and for keeping.
Plate VIII
Ceramic and porcelain
Plate IX
Hand painted porcelain, made to order
Every piece is painted and personalised for the person receiving it — a monogram, a date, a message on the back. Priced on enquiry.
Fine white embossed porcelain plate from Czechoslovakia. Dinner plate is 10 5/8" and salad plate is 6.75". Vining wood design with leaves, butterfly, ladybugs and bees. Custom designed monogram added for an additional fee. Plates can be personalised on the back — a wedding or gift piece.
Hand painted, custom designed 4.5" square white porcelain dish with cutouts. Personalised with your motif for a wedding, event or gift, and can be inscribed with a message or date on the back.
Hand painted and custom designed 5" leaf bonbon dish for candy, soap or jewellery. A galax leaf with bee or butterfly on a thin white porcelain leaf-shaped dish, personalised on the back.
Hand painted arabesque tray in the Collection's porcelain line, custom designed to order.
Hand painted, custom designed porcelain nightlight. A 5.25" piece painted to look like a cabin or bird house — a house-warming or baby gift, made to order.
Porcelain cross ornament, hand painted and custom designed. 4" white porcelain cross with raised edges, personalised for weddings or christenings. Ribbon or leather can be included for an additional fee.
Custom designed and hand painted heart ornament. 3.25" puffed heart with a gold metal ring, each one designed to order for your event or gift giving.
Hand painted, custom designed set of four small leaf dishes in four styles — perfect for candy or salt, each personalised with a small bee or butterfly. Given individually or as a set.
10.75" x 8" x 1.5" porcelain leaf dish with an open wood handle, made in Czechoslovakia. Hand painted with a leaf and bee, butterfly or dragonfly, and personalised.
Custom designed and hand painted porcelain fine dinnerware from Czechoslovakia, with a monogram designed to order.
Hand painted and custom designed ornament with a gold metal ring, in 2.5" or 3.5". A photograph can be applied for an additional fee.
Acorn, oak leaves and a small bird adorn this 4.25" porcelain dish. Hand painted and custom designed as a bonbon or soap dish, personalised for a wedding, party favour or event gift.
Hand painted, custom designed porcelain plaque with a house number or name. 9.5" x 7" oval, painted with a number, motif or as a name plaque — a wedding, housewarming or hostess gift.
Porcelain cheese board, hand painted and custom designed with a wine label or monogram. A porcelain pick or cheese knife can be included for an additional fee.
Embellished monogram on an 8.75" x 6.75" rectangular or 6" square frame. Choose gold, copper or silver for the embellishment. A treasured wedding, graduation, birthday or christening gift.
Hand painted and custom designed reindeer ornament, 3" — for Christmas, or as a wedding or event favour. Silk or ribbon with a leaf can be added.
2" porcelain hinged box presented in a satin lined navy box, with a bright gold hinge. Bottom and inside can be personalised — beautiful as event favours, and as treasured tooth-fairy boxes.
Plate X
Commissioned work
Enquiries
Portraits are painted from your own photographs. Calligraphy is quoted by the piece — envelopes, place cards, vows, an illustrated map. Porcelain is painted and personalised to order.
Tell me what you have in mind, roughly when you need it, and I will come back with a price.