Peggy Kane
Cedar Creek Clayworks
Like many Arivacans, it was the beauty of the environment that attracted artist Peggy Kane to the community. That has sustained and inspired her since her arrival in 1993.
“I love the community, the fabulous people and the serenity,” she said. After a high pressure, high profile art career in Delaware and New York, “I am at a point in my life where I am enjoying exactly what I want to do with my art. I just want to do the work for the love of work, not for sales or exhibits.”
Living in the northeast, with easy access to New York City, Ms. Kane took advantage of the proximity to study at the prestigious Art Student League on W. 57th St. There she worked directly with artists in a wide variety of media.
Ms. Kane also studied art at the University of Delaware with a focus on printmaking although she explained painting “is my primary love.”
In addition to pursuing a busy and “intense” art career, she found time to have two sons. Adam, a natural history museum director and Charles is a writer on utilitarian plant topics.
While living in Arivaca she started Cedar Creek Clayworks, the vehicle for her handmade tiles and masks, currently available at the Arivaca Artists’ Co-op. Using clay to create an original design, Ms. Kane would then create a mold from which she would produce a plaster casting. The work is then glazed, hand painted and fired in her kiln.
The business supported her through sales at galleries in Tucson and southern Arizona as well as on eBay. However, a kiln fire in her studio destroyed nearly 80% of her 150 molds disrupting her business.
“Fortunately, I received several painting commissions which was helpful until I found steady employment with the Origins Society which provides services to handicapped adults,” she explained. With this group Ms. Kane is able to develop art projects as part of their therapy.
Lately, her personal therapy has included building a koi pond. “I love where I live. Just sitting outside in the morning and not seeing another person, I adore this place. I can hardly stand to leave, even to go to Tucson. Arivaca is a little slice of paradise.”
