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About me
I was born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. My parents always were very supportive of my creativity and would have loved for me to go to art school. However, learning from books never was my thing so art school was no option. After high school, I tried a job as a sales person in different stores. I found out that I wasn't made for that and I decided to go back to school and get a one year specialized education to be a secretary. I quickly knew that that wasn't my thing either, but finished the school anyway and graduated. That was the start of a period with many different administrative jobs which I didn't like. At the age of 26 I got a job in Public Relations, Promotion and Marketing. Finally something I liked and where I could explore and use my creative side. I did that for 21 years with two different employers. Especially my last employer saw the possibilities of my creativity and stimulated this in many ways. I loved my job and the company I worked for, I was there for over 13 years.
In March 2003 my dad passed away. This was my worst nightmare and it became a turning point in my life. I felt I needed to do more with my talents. That year brought me many losses, several good friends crossed over, it almost looked like my dad set the trend. But that year also had something good for me stored away. In November of that year I met a man in the U.S.A and fell in love with him. That meant for me: many travels to the USA. In February 2005 I married him but continued to live in The Netherlands. Later that year, I decided that I was ready for the big change. It was now or never. I was going to try to live of my art. So I sold my house and a lot of my stuff, quit my job, packed my bags and went for it. I stepped on a plane, had no place to live in the USA (he is incarcerated) but enough money to live in a hotel until I found a place to live. That place came sooner than expected in the shape of a wonderful family who took me into their home and hearts. Thanks to them I found peace, friendship and love and thanks to them offering to be my sponsor, I now have my Green Card and am a legal resident of the United States. My marriage unfortunately didn't work out and thus I'm a happy single again. Today I am living in my log cabin on top of a 2300 ft mountain in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California and that is where I create my art.
In The Netherlands I painted tulips, poppy's, funny things and all kinds of other subjects. I developed my own techniques. Almost all my early work is in acrylics, but ever since I 'discovered' painting in oil, I only use acrylics for some backgrounds. At one point I decided to paint a Native American. And that was the start. Now I mostly paint Native American portraits. As from a very early age, when I was seven years old, I was interested in the Native American people. When I was about thirty, I started buying, and of course reading books about the Native American culture, religion, art, etc. Ever since then I am hooked. Many of my good friends are Native American, Dineh (Navajo), Seminole, Hupa, Apache, Lakota, Cherokee, Pima, Shoshone, Choctaw, Ojibwe, Hopi, Yaqui, etc. They all are my inspiration.
In 2006 I had a vision of a Native American and I felt the irresistible urge to paint him. The 'Apache Spirit Warrior' was born. He was the first of my paintings of Native American people.
I hope you will enjoy my art and that my Native American portraits in particular, will touch your heart and even more, your spirit.
Crow Woman
Copyright 2006-2009 by Peggy Beerta, Crow Woman Arts. All rights reserved. The text and images on this website may not be used or reproduced by anyone in any form or shape for any purpose whatsoever without written permission by the artist.