Solana Beach artist to be featured on Australian TV show

Peggy Stokes, an artist based in Solana Beach, will be featured on the Australian TV series “Colour in Your Life,” with an all-day filming session in her home studio scheduled for Sept. 11.

“It’s fantastic to have this opportunity,” said Stokes, a Michigan native who moved to San Diego 30 years ago. “It doesn’t come along very often.”

The show, launched in 2011 and hosted by artist Graeme Stevenson, provides a 24-minute look at different artists in their studios, giving them an opportunity to share their work in front of a global audience. The show airs in 15 countries, and can be viewed on YouTube. Stokes said she reached out to the show two months ago, and received a call two days later about appearing in an episode. The episode with Stokes will be part of the show’s “Hot August Nights U.S. Film Tour.”

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“Lava’s Power”  (Courtesy)

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“Purple Rain”  (Courtesy)

Stokes, a self-taught artist, spent the first 35 years of her career as a photographer. For the last three years, she’s been working with alcohol inks. The fast-drying inks are poured onto a canvas, and can be manipulated by tilting the canvas in multiple directions, resulting in a series of free-form shapes, lines and fillings. They can be further altered by pouring rubbing alcohol on them, and the lines and shapes typically continue moving around as the work dries. The finished work can conjure different interpretations from each viewer.

“You’re not supposed to get it,” Stokes said. “You’re supposed to look at it and think about it.”

Many of her recent works are laid out in her garage, which she is converting into a studio, surrounded by paints, blank canvasses, tools and her dog Brody. Everyone has artistic inclinations, she added, but many aspiring artists worry that their initial attempts aren’t good enough to forge ahead with an art career.

“There’s no right or wrong,” she said. “There’s right or wrong in the artist’s mind.”

Stokes’ resume also includes a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Central Michigan University and time spent as a graphic designer at Diablo Valley College in the Bay Area, where she lived before moving to San Diego. Stokes is a cancer survivor and has five children. She’s hosted several art shows locally at the Lomas Santa Fe Country Club, including a few exhibitions of her photography and one featuring her first mixed work in 2014.

For more information about the show, visit colourinyourlife.com.au. To view Stokes’ artwork, visit peggystokesgallery.com.