Prolific artist Pegge Hopper personifies the spirit and style of women in her spellbinding paintings.
Pegge Hopper’s “Moana”
“I was very young when I realized drawing was what I really loved to do,” says Hawai‘i artist Pegge Hopper. Trained as a painter in her home state of California, she began a career in design in the ’50s—first in New York, then Milan and finally Honolulu. But it was the late 1960s that reignited her passion for fine art, calling her once again to put her brushes to work.
“Waialua A”
“In 1968,” Hopper recalls, “I visited the state archives to study old photographs. I was intrigued by the faces of the Polynesian people. Their open and unselfconscious gazes stared at me from another era. And whether in their native clothing or stuffed into Victorian nipped-waist dresses, I was inspired to paint them.” Thus began her enduring journey to capture the character and style of her subjects—the innermost thoughts and emotions of Hopper’s painted women coming to life on her canvas. “I don’t paint from my head,” she says. “I paint from my eyes, and their beauty has become etched in my mind.”
“Three Ginger”
Recently, Hopper has introduced new releases, including “Mana Olana (Floating Thoughts),” part of her September Swim series; and “Pareo,” with a portion of sales benefiting Women’s Fund of Hawai‘i. “When I first started to paint Hawaiian women, I felt they had not yet been depicted in a contemporary style,” Hopper explains. “I used my drawing skills in a combination with graphic imagery to portray the fortitude and some of the sadness I had seen in the old photographs.” Her singular technique has garnered an ardent following of both local and international collectors. “In my new work,” Hopper notes, “I have been experimenting with alternative materials and different imagery.”
“He Aloha No O Honolulu”
As she considers her legacy, the 86-year-old looks to her enduring muse: Hawai‘i. “Since I have lived in Honolulu for more than 50 years, I feel like a kama‘āina,” Hopper says. “I realize how fortunate I am and how much support this community has given me—both as an artist and as a woman. I hope that through my art I have given something back.”
The artist in Kailua
Photography by: Artwork courtesy of artist; portrait by Lauren Hopper-Pojar
