Peggy Leonard received her BFA in painting and drawing and an associate’s degree in nursing from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She is both a registered nurse, and accomplished artist, residing in Milwaukee, WI.From the artist:“These paintings are my prayers,” muses Leonard, reflecting on her driving need to express herself through her art. “We are made of the stuff that requires us to respond with our hearts and hands. Often, it requires terrible sacrifice and suffering, something not everyone can understand. But it is done with reverence of life, not irreverence.”Leonard’s pastels and oil paintings capture her reverence of life and reflect her own life’s journey, including earlier forays into the wilderness. Her venture into art began in early childhood, as childless neighbors nurtured her natural ability to draw; concurrently, Leonard’s parents instilled a respect for academic excellence and the higher order of nurturing others.As a young nurse, Leonard “heard and saw poignant messages to travel while one was young and free…while one had one’s health.” Consequently, she took to the open road and public lands, camping across America for months at a time. During these years, her “celebration of the natural splendor of this country” helped shape her sense of artistic expression. She was moved by such sights as the sunset on St. Mary’s Lake in Glacier National Park and triple rainbows over Taos Mountain- scenes that exposed her to “a magical movement of light, color, and energy upon the horizon that changed me forever.”Born 1953, Mentor, OhioEducation:1995 Doug Dawson Workshop, Scottsdale Artists School1994 Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, "Pastel and Mixed Media"1993 Pastel Society of America Scholarship1989 Albert Handel Pastel Workshop, Santa Fe, New Mexico1987 Cardinal Stritch College: Bookbinding and Papermaking1983 Bernard Plossu Photography Workshop, Pilar, New Mexico1978-1980 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee1979 Pabst Brewing Company Scholarship1971-1975 Miami University of Ohio; A.D. Nursing, 1975; B.F.A., 1980Solo Exhibitions:1996 "The Chosen Path", David Barnett Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin1994 Unitarian Church North, Mequon, Wisconsin1991 Dorothy Bradley Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin1983 Uihlein Hall, Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin West Bank Cafe, Milwaukee, Wisconsin1980 Mentor Public Library, Mentor, Ohio Wisconsin Women's Club, Milwaukee, Wisconsin St. Mary's Hospital, Milwaukee, Wisconsin1979 University National Bank, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Plankinton Mall Arcade, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Selected Exhibitions:1996 People's Prefectural Celebration, Chiba, Japan "The Best and the Brightest", Scottsdale School of Fine Art, Scottsdale, Arizona1995 David Barnett Gallery - Pastel Anthology, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Lakefront Festival of the Arts, Milwaukee, Wisconsin1994 Unitarian Church North, Mequon, Wisconsin1991 Lakefront Festival of the Arts, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Kohler Art Festival, Sheboygan, Wisconsin1990 Lakefront Festival of the Arts, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Purchase award by Findley Adhesive Company, Milwaukee Artfair on the Square, Madison, Wisconsin1983 "New Mexico Artists Against Nuclear Arms" donation purchased. "Photographs from Bernard Plossu Workshop", Pilar, New Mexico1982 "Of Paper", Wisconsin Women in the Arts, Marine Bank, Milwaukee, Wisconsin1981 "Paintings on Paper", Wisconsin Women in the Arts, Marine Bank, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Midwestern Show of Fine Arts, Waukesha, Wisconsin, Awarded Third Place1979 Milwaukee Sentinel Active Americans Arts and Crafts Show Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Awarded Honorable Mention Represented by:David Barnett Gallery, Milwaukee, WisconsinPrivate collections and commissions in Milwaukee, Racine, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Santa Fe, and Sydney, Australia.Honors: June 10-20, 1996 Selected as artist ambassador and exhibitor in Japan representing Wisconsin through Wisconsin/Chiba, Inc.