“A Celebration of Life and Death” Margaret Pelton
The Deering Estate at Cutler Welcomes Margaret M. Pelton
In the hollows of the bones O’Keefe painted were openings to a new dimension where light and color ruled in an increased intensity. She did not look upon bones as symbols of death but rather of longevity and survival. “...Bones are as beautiful as anything I know. To me they are strangely more living than the animals walking around — hair eyes and all…” from Susan Wright Georgia O’Keefe Biographer and Georgia O’Keefe. We open Margaret M. Pelton’s exhibit on the Deering Estate at Cutler with a reference to Georgia O’keefe because in her own words, “Her work has inspired mine.” Through watercolor and fiber composition, Margaret Pelton captures the celebration of life and death.
Of her work, James Couper* writes—Pelton’s intimate association with her surroundings finds a voice through her use of objects such as beads, feathers, and bones. These collected bits and pieces take on a powerful symbolic function when combined with various fibers, which have been given form by skillful knotting, wrapping and coiling. The resulting pieces speak clearly of the artist’s interest in the historical west and her strong attachment to the land.
Margaret Pelton was born in Charlotte, North Carolina and moved to Miami on her fifth birthday. She took two buses across town to take art lessons beginning at the age of ten. She continued with these art classes until she became at art major in high school. In high school, a ceramic piece she created won a Gold Key in Scholastic Wards and the piece was selected to go to the Metropolitan in New York. Her artist pursuits were confirmed. She took her first watercolor class from the late Richard Merrick at the University of Miami. She went on to receive her Masters Degree in Art Education and Constructive Design from Florida State University.
Her artistic careers spans several decades and her contributions to Miami are not only as an artists, but as an educator as well. She taught at Miami-Dade Community College from 1970 until 1979 and chaired the Art Department from 1971 to 1979. Pelton then served as Associate Dean of Humanities from 1979 until 1985 and as District Director of Art Programs from 1985 until 1987. She then went to the New World School for the Arts, where she was an Associate Dean until her retirement in 1996.
Throughout her career as a professor and an administrator, Pelton continued her artistic production. She exhibited in solo and two person shows as well as participating in over 40 group exhibitions. Her concentration during this time was on off-loom, mixed media, fiber wall hangings and sculpture.
Margaret retired from teaching and administration in 1996 and devoted herself to her art. Working alongside fellow artist and dear friend, Dottie Greene, they developed techniques in transparent watercolor. Pelton’s imagery has been primarily still life of Florida Vegetation and common objects, produced in the studio. Recently, she began a series of paintings (featured in the Richmond Cottage Exhibit) that are more personal and environmentally focused. These paintings include the bones, antlers, weavings, and pots that come from her background of having a farm, being part of a family of hunters, and having an interest in the Historical West. Today. Pelton divides her time between her homes in Miami and Franklin, North Carolina.
*Special acknowledgement to James Couper For his contributions to this article. Couper is a professor in the Visual Arts Department at Florida International University and a painter.
