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.

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.

Influenced by the work of John Singer Sargent, Edward Hopper and Joaquin Sorolla, Judy loves using her brush to capture the vitality that light lends to a form on canvas. Whether painting figures, landscape or still life subjects, she uses the brush or pencil to capture a moment or an expression and develop its essence.

A lover of opera, gardening and the claret from the winery up the street, Judy is an avid traveler and general seeker of adventure, from rafting trips on the Rogue and Salmon Rivers to perfecting her cab-hailing skills in New York City. She treasures time spent with her six grandkids, whether vacationing on the Oregon coast or at home in Medford.

Janis Lacey Ellison is a professional pastel teacher and artist who is the past President of Pastel Artists of Oregon (PAO). She is a charter and founding member of the organization having served two consecutive two year terms as President and now as President Emeritus is a consultant to the Board of Directors.

Her roots in the pastel community run deep, with over 30 year’s experience in the medium, attaining one of the highest honors of International Association of Pastel Societies, Master Circle Status (IAPS/MC) as well as Master Pastelist Membership Status in PAO (Pastel Artists of Oregon), Signature membership status in PSWC (Pastel Society of the West Coast), PSA (Pastel Society of America), and NPS (Northwest Pastel Society).

She has led the PAO organization through development of a strong infrastructure during its first two founding years working in concert with PAO’s Board of Directors. Individually and in a supervisory capacity developing it’s By-laws,  job descriptions, spearheaded Marketing and Social Media strategies, and registration with the state and federal government as a 503 (3) (c) non profit organization.

A licensed educator and a Special Education Teacher by career, she also worked as a Marketing Manager in the software industry and senior living facility business. She brings accomplished  marketing skills to PAO including content development for the website, social media postings, Newsletter, and special events and exhibition promotions. As the organization grows and our circle of volunteers grow, Janis is helping to train and pass the baton to the next generation of leaders in PAO. 

Janis believes that serving the pastel community and providing opportunities for PAO members to exhibit their work, share their successes, educate the public on the art of pastel and enjoy the camaraderie of other pastel artists is an honor and a privilege.

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!

Geoffrey attended art school at Wallasey College of Art and the Laird School of Art in Birkenhead. Then, after jobs in security on Liverpool docks, local government, and the building trade, he went on to become a computer scientist. He lectured at three English Universities, with research work taking him all over the world. He painted as a hobby during this time, some 60 years in all. He has attended short courses with leading artists such as Richard McKinley, IAPS-MC PSA-MP, Marla Bagetta, IAPS-MC PSA and Robert Brindley, RSMA, to name a few. Now retired and living on the Wirral Peninsula, his studio looks out directly over gardens with trees and flowers in abundance. He paints mainly in soft pastel and exhibits with several art societies and in open exhibitions in the UK and internationally. In the UK, he belongs to several local art societies. Internationally, he is an associate member of the Pastel Society of America and of several regional pastel societies, and exhibits regularly in the United States. His painting, “Mountain Stream Snowdonia” was accepted for the Webshow of the International Association of Pastel Societies in New York.