Masterworks: Meet Margaret Peter

​Margaret Peter is a Guelph painter and original printmaker whose interest in texture is reflected in her floral, landscape, and fossil images.  Recently she has added collage to her original prints to create introspection in the viewer regarding the evolution of the land and its creatures.
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After graduating from Windsor Teachers’ College in 1963, she taught school for six years.  She completed her bachelor of fine arts degree at the University of Guelph in 1974. 

She was a member of a co-operative gallery “Chimera” in Salem, Ontario from 1976-78 .  She returned to teaching in 1986 and retired in 2000.  Margaret has taught printmaking courses across Ontario and was the printmaking instructor at Wilfrid Laurier University from 1988 to 2006.

She rejoices in the beauty of nature and the joy and inspiration it brings her.  Found objects; such as feathers, shells, and fossils give her imagination a “kick-start” and she’ll be off to create a new print about images that reflect life in its transient state.
Painting a plate for a monotype on location heightens the emotional charge and sensual depth in Margaret’s work.  “The outdoor energy surrounding me is very important in capturing the feeling of the moment.”  “When working indoors, I can take the time for reflection on the more intellectual aspects of my prints.”

Margaret is chiefly represented by the Art Gallery of Guelph, Kloepfer Gallery, and Barber Gallery, Guelph, the Rebecca Gallery, Toronto and Carnegie Gallery, Dundas.  On Aug. 1, 2001, she took a painting studio at the “Williams Mill” in Glen Williams near Georgetown.  She is known for her landscapes, abstracts and mixed media.  She is a member of the Guelph Creative Arts Association, the Central Ontario Art Association, and is an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists (1990) and the Ontario Society of Artists (1991).  She has received five Ontario Arts Council grants. Margaret has held many individual exhibitions since 1974.  Participation in numerous juried shows throughout Southwestern Ontario has brought her many awards.  Her paintings and prints are in private and public collections around the world.  Her work “Harvest Time” was published in “International Artist Magazine” February-March, 2001 issue and her etching “Remnants of Life on the Trail” was published in the April/May 2002 issue.  Guelph Life magazine (Jan/Feb issue 2008) featured an article by Rob O’Flanagan that profiled her life and career as a professional artist and teacher. 

In 2014, she was nominated for a "Woman of Distinction "award in the Arts and Culture Category by the YWCA.
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In the summer 2019 Issue of Living Spaces magazine, an article was written that featured her as a Local Artisan. ​​