By Mya Maloley
ArtPrize is an annual event that celebrates artists of all skill levels, showcasing their work on windows of local businesses, galleries, public spaces and more around Grand Rapids. Many artists travel from far away to enter their masterpiece into the ArtPrize contest, in hopes of winning the $125,000 public vote grand prize and gaining publicity for their craft. What makes the ArtPrize even more special is when we have local artists that are native to Grand Rapids, showcase their hard work.
Peggy Slattery, 53, is as close as one can get to holding the title as a Grand Rapids native, living only a brisk walk away from her venue location at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. Slattery’s entry consists of five oil paintings of Irises on black wooden canvases.
“While painting I feel both invigorated and peaceful at the same time,” Slattery explained. “It provides respite from the busyness and chaos of everyday life. My hope is that my paintings do the same for others by inviting them to pause, embrace a moment of stillness, and reflect on the everyday moments that spark joy: walking in the woods, laughing with a friend, buying a bouquet of flowers, or feeling the warmth of the sun on a chilly day.”
To the inexperienced person, one would not know where to begin to create such a masterpiece. But the process seemed quite simple as Slattery explained, “I put about three or four layers of Gesso on it to protect them, and then I paint on them- it makes them sturdy.”
A lot of preparation goes into creating a piece such as hers.
“My artistic process is a blending of technical skill and intuition,” stated Slattery in her artist statement. I craft compositions that blend both realistic and abstract elements. Through the interplay of light and shadow, color and texture, I desire to evoke both a sense of inner harmony and connectedness.”
Slattery, who is a teacher, makes time for her art after work. When asked where she finds the time to create Peggy replied, “I try every night to paint when I get home. I paint all weekend. And, in the summer, I treat it as a job, so I try to paint a full work day.”
Peggy revealed that it took her about seven months to finally get to her finished product. But from the combination of painting after school and on weekends, her paintings slowly came to life.
Many could not fathom painting from nine to five, so when asked a follow up question about if her hands get cramped, Slattery said, “No, but my hands do get tired.”
When it comes to the subject of her work, Slattery said, “ I love to paint vintage Downtown Grand Rapids scenes. But, I also love to paint flowers. I like to paint them because it’s better to not be straight when painting flowers.”
Why did she choose to paint large images of irises?
“I always loved closeups of really anything,” she said ”My kids are always like ‘Mom why are you taking our picture so close up!’ But in flower close ups, I especially love the way the light hits.”
Some may say that Slattery’s art work really was a dream come true. She explained how the concept came to her while sleeping.
“Weirdly enough when I started to paint a couple of these, I would have dreams at night about flowing color and trying to catch the light,” she said. “You know when you look at the river and you can see the light bouncing off of it and you want to follow it but you can’t? In my dreams I would have that.”
Ultimately, many factors went into deciding what inspired her to paint her piece; “An Iris Collection of Five,” but Slattery summed it up into one final concept.
“We all need a pause, right? Because everyone is so busy,” she said. “But when I sit down to paint, it fills me back up. So, painting something that feels calm and serene gives that to me, but also I wanted the paintings to look like that.”
Her Iris paintings are so detailed and look very realistic. Slattery was quick to share the obstacles she faced while creating her work.
“I would say, I don’t really know what it’s going to look like in the end- you have an idea. I use a picture but they dont always look just like the picture. I learned a lot while doing these, the white ones, in particular, were difficult because it’s hard to add dimension, and they each have about 20 players of paint on them to get them to have that dimension,” she recalled.
“The white ones in particular took me many, many, many months. They were quite frustrating.”
Even through the trials she faced, Peggy was able to take the difficulties and seek fulfillment even in the challenges.
“What’s satisfying is at my age, to still be learning that much and to feel that growth. To have that feeling again and that accomplishment .”
Slattery’s “An Iris Collection of Five” is on display at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel straight ahead, just inside the front doors. And each piece is $2,400.
“If someone wants to buy them all together, we’d discuss a deal, because I’m a little attached to them and I’d like them to live together,” she said.
Slattery was named the third place winner and won $25,000 for her paintings. You can still see Slattery’s artwork on display until Oct. 1.
