Local Girl Makes Good in Both SF & NY!

Paige Peterson's Art Exhibit in Tiburon Through December

By Mary Swift-Swan

Paige Peterson grew up in the San Francisco area on the Belvedere Lagoon. When she was 18, her Mom, successful interior designer Corinne Wiley, came home in a rush one day and asked Paige if she would paint pictures for the soon-to-open model homes she was decorating. Paintings needed to be purchased from someone, so why not Paige, who was rapt in her art classes at the time. Paige was excited to earn money doing something she loved. Corinne advised her to paint pictures in multiple styles so they would not look like the same artist. She gladly accepted this exciting challenge, asking only how much, how many, and when. As her mother prepared to leave again, she said she would pay Paige $100 per piece if she could deliver on time. As her Mom walked out the door, she told Paige she had to complete 20 paintings and that she needed them in one week. Without hesitation, she did it.

The paintings sold off the walls-literally. Paige had to paint many more to keep the walls full during the time the model homes were open. It was Paige's first successful showing. Paige often visits the Tiburon/Belvedere area to see her Mom, who is currently the vice mayor of Belvedere. This fall, Paige has had another successful showing. From late October to the end of December, Paige's work is again selling off the walls. This time, the show is at the new Tiburon Fine Art Gallery at 80 E. Main Street on Ark Row (415/435-5999).

Paige, a mother of two, is also recognized as a top designer in New York. Over the years, her side interests have included modeling, acting in commercials, TV, and movies. Paige is known in New York City as a beautiful, charming, and well-organized hostess. She is also a recent cancer survivor. A struggle that began with pain in her face in 1996 grew to a demanding level in 1998. "It was behind my cheek bone, and felt like hot pain trying to push my right eye out of the socket," Paige recalled. After a scheduled consult and MRI in the morning, she left town to have dinner at the White House.

Paige and long-time friend Peter Brown were invited to attend a formal affair when President Clinton received England's Prime Minister Tony Blair. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were among the many delightful and interesting dinner party guests. Elton John and Stevie Wonder entertained through dinner. Paige was on the train, en route to this fabulous evening, when she got the results of the MRI by cell phone. A brain tumor was confirmed. She didn't know whether she should return home and retreat in fear or accept the news bravely and not allow this worst of moments to ruin one of the highlights of her life. "Moving to the dance floor after dinner, a rock band played as the Clintons, the Blairs, and the Gores danced. At one point, Tipper grabbed Elton John and I grabbed David, Elton's boyfriend. The eight of us danced. It was like a dream," Paige reminisced, with her trademark glowing smile.

Returning to New York after the event, Paige insisted on not waiting to undergo surgery, against the assurances of five doctors who said she could wait six months to a year. Paige was right. After the surgery, Dr. Frazier said to her family, "Thank God she was aggressive in insisting this be done now. The tumor sat on the optical nerve and motor strip. It was three quarters wrapped around the sagittal sinus. Once a tumor wraps all the way around, it becomes untreatable. Paige would have been inoperable in four months and gone shortly thereafter." Paige exemplifies grace under fire when she feels something is right. While recuperating from the surgery, Paige made another decision--to wholeheartedly apply herself to her painting.

Her courage, appreciation of life, and the special relationships of people in it show on her canvases. Paige has worked hard at painting over the last four years and it is evident in her work. She had a recent exhibit in Maine along with Alex Katz, Christo, and Chuck Close, and another in Rinebeck. New York. The July 2002 issue of Conde Nast Traveler showed Paige at her easel, advertising Studios by the Sea, a new coffee table book on artist studios of Long Island's East Hampton area, which includes a segment on Paige's studio there. Paige has another studio in New York City. She was absolutely thrilled to be included in the company of neighboring artists from the region, which Jackson Pollack made famous for its beauty and light.

Paige specializes in acrylic landscapes, portraits, and figural paintings. One of her most successful styles currently features people who are caught in a moment of activity or conversation but have been removed from the setting. The blank background has a bold and interesting result. "I am fascinated by things that are not being said, the awkwardness that often ensues when people really only want to be close to each other. What are they thinking and why? It's like putting your ear to a seashell to hear the ocean. What you hear instead are your own thoughts and memories." At the Tiburon show opening, the gentleman who bought the first piece, which depicts a child's legs jumping with what appears to be a swimsuit on, said, "It reminds me of a summer moment spent with my grandson." Her work reduces the social and human scenario to its purest elements capturing real intimacy.