Peggy has been active in support of several art organizations for more years than she will admit. As such she’s been elected president and exhibition chairman for multiple tenures. Each of those societies grew in membership due in part to the programs that were presented to them during her tenure. Peggy was the first IAPS Chairman of Exhibitions appointed by Urania Christy Tarbet, founder of IAPS, and later an elected member of the IAPS Board of Directors.

Art has been an important part of her life since childhood. However, formal education didn’t include any art classes as she wanted a career that would provide a steady income. That was interrupted at the end of her junior year at the University of Wyoming when she married her husband, Robert. As an Air Force officer’s wife, she was introduced to a group of women who took art classes on base. The instructors were currently active artists, and the local newspaper described the group as a “mini art institute”. Over 11 years she learned how to paint & draw always from life in multiple mediums and studied color theory from an instructor who’d studied the method of Joseph Albers. Her first experience as a group president was of 90 women whose husbands’ rank ranged all the way to general! In 1989 they moved to Washington state. It was here Peggy was introduced to pastel, and she’s never looked back. She taught beginning/intermediate pastel classes and workshops in many places in King County and worked for and exhibited at the long-running Issaquah Gallery. However, she is eternally grateful for and acknowledges the many professional pastelists from whom she took and continues to take workshops. She believes there is no such thing as too little education at any age.

Peggy is honored to be the second president of PAO. The first four years have provided a strong foundation in all varieties of marketing as well as the promotion of special events and exhibitions. The sponsoring of workshops with internationally recognized pastel artists and supporting other regional pastel classes for youth will continue. As mentioned above, she has a strong background in teaching pastel and thus hopes to include workshops for members who consider themselves to be at or near the beginning of their pastel education. Accomplished pastelists that enjoy introducing others to the pastel medium will be invited to instruct workshops/classes at that level. It is also her intention to travel to as many PAO regions as possible to learn how this organization can support the artists living there.

Donna’s journey with pastels began several years ago as a serious hobby while working full-time as a scientist in healthcare. Now working part-time in her career, she is shifting her energies to the arts. As an artist, she works in charcoal and soft pastels, holds Signature Membership in the Northwest Pastel Society, and participates in juried exhibitions of fine art.

To the Pastel Artists of Oregon, Donna brings the analytical and organizational skills as well as the teamwork and leadership experiences gained from over 25 years in voluntary service on a variety of scientific committees and working groups at the national, regional, and local levels. Donna has served PAO for two years as Regional Representative for the members in the northwestern part of Oregon.

Her father instilled in Donna a few drops of his entrepreneurial spirit, and she enjoys helping with new programs, such as PAO. She looks forward to working with you as PAO grows and undertakes its journey, addressing your interests as pastel artists and art lovers.

Cheryl has over 20 years experience with pastels. She has been a member of PAO for 4 years. She feels that serving on the board of PAO is a great privilege and she is eager to be part of such a talented, vibrant and dynamic group of artists.

Cheryl is a retired nurse practitioner in women’s health with an emphasis on infertility. Prior to becoming a nurse practitioner she was a nursing instructor, ICU charge nurse, and worked in hospital administration. She has served on many boards and committees. She always thrived on challenges and finding creative approaches to problem solving.

During her career in the medical field, she was always taking art and photography courses. She has studied at Pasadena Art Center School of Design and Cal State Long Beach, plus numerous workshops and classes around the world. Her most memorable art teacher was Betty Edwards, author of “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.” Now retired, she lives in Mount Vernon, Washington with her husband Ron, anticipating the birth of their first granddaughter.

Currently Cheryl is working in portraiture and finding it very challenging and rewarding. She also loves landscapes, florals and still life. She strives to find art and beauty in everything and everyone. As artists, we’re the lucky ones who can see it, sense it, feel it and touch it. We’re never bored and know that the world is so much better with art to remind us of the appreciation of being alive.

Ginny’s art journey started as a child when she was given a set of pastels and a book on how to draw horses. It was not until she retired from her career in the fashion industry that she was able to focus on her art.

As a self-taught artist, she is a lifetime student, studying in multiple mediums. After over a decade with the medium, pastels have become her favorite medium in all her artwork. Her love for pastels is attributed to their tactile nature, the immediate gratification, and the saturation of color offered in her work.

Ginny is inspired by the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest and captivated by the play of light and color in nature. Each of her paintings holds the power to connect with your own experiences, if only in a memory. She hopes to highlight the need to preserve this wilderness. Her intent is to convey the feeling of space, rather than the specifics of a location. Often, she paints from sketches or her memory, which allows her the freedom for spontaneous art making.

To Ginny art is about cherishing a passing moment, remembering it fondly when it visits, and sharing that experience with others. She hopes to convey the intangible, perhaps a whispering pine or a salty breeze, and leave that part of herself in the artwork.

Bill retired about ten years ago and decided to renew his long interest in drawing and painting with pastels. Lucky to live in the Portland region of Oregon, he found many accomplished instructors providing workshops in the immediate area.

Bill recently became a member of the PAO Board of Directors and is serving as the Treasurer. Bill’s background is varied with experience at journeyman level carpentry, conducting land development surveys, managing federal, state, and private foundation contracts, and directing small nonprofit community development organizations. This honed his skills in negotiation, problem solving, project planning, and meeting deadlines.

Bill looks forward to his future relationship to the PAO peer community to both feed his interest in pastels and to collaborate to further the strength of PAO’s programs.

Rick Bonetti is relatively new to pastel and has been painting since 2016. Before retirement, he was Marketing Director for several major real estate development firms, responsible for market research, product design, advertising, public relations, and sales management. Rick is active on social media and writes a blog on sustainability.

Rick started pastel painting portraits and paints primarily from photos but started plein air this past summer. His wife Lynne is an accomplished watercolor artist. They had a joint show at Rogue Valley Manor, where they live, and Jazz Vespers artists at Medford First Presbyterian Church, where they both sold paintings.

Harley Talkington earned an English BA and a teaching degree from Sacramento State University. He has 40+ years of kindergarten through 8th grade teaching experience in all subject areas, including Music, Science, and Art, all energized by a love of the Humanities. He has promoted creativity in his teaching and own pursuits, including game-making, music, mobiles, experimental writing, and poetry.

Since retirement from teaching, his emphasis has been on painting with pastels. Concentrating on landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, and “critters,” he is a Signature Member in the Northwest Pastel Society, a member of the West Coast Pastel Society, and Pastel Society of America.

As a member of Pastel Artists of Oregon, he is currently the editor for its quarterly newsletter. In his art, depending on the subject matter and evolution of a composition, Harley incorporates elements of abstraction and impressionism into his pieces, striving to leave room for surprise in the process. Art, he believes, is a way for each of us to lose and rediscover ourselves.

Retired from a career as an illustrator and graphic designer, Gretha fell in love with pastels and finds their immediacy and vibrancy most suitable to her way of painting. Landscapes are of particular interest and she is intrigued by the challenge of representing it in a believable manner.

Although she is an avid plein air painter and enjoys the friendly competition of plein air painting events, she has found a new appreciation of working in her studio where it is warm and dry, and where her studio cats clamor for her attention.

Gretha has won awards and participated in juried shows, events and invitationals since 2004 in Oregon, California, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, and Florida.
She lives and teaches pastel in Portland. She is a signature member of the Northwest Pastel Society, and a member of the Pastel Society of North Carolina.

Gretha looks forward to working on the newsletter team and getting to know other PAO members.

Suzanne has been using pastels and oil for over 20 years and is a member of the Pastel Society of America, Pastel Society of the West Coast, and the Pastel Artists of Oregon. She is also represented by Art and Soul Ashland Gallery and a member of the Rogue Gallery in Medford.

Suzanne has taken many workshops with many of the top names in the pastel world. Because of that, she has a pulse on the best workshop artists and has developed many personal relationships with them.
She is excited to take on this new position and bring the best to PAO!