Monroe resident’s paintings on display in New York City.
By: Matt Kirdahy
MONROE Local artist Peggi Kahn-Heller’s art has become "freer," something she said might not have been as possible if she worked with smaller canvases.
"My work is abstract impressionism," Ms. Kahn-Heller said. "I work with oils and acrylics and yes, I like to work big. I use them very loosely and with a lot of color."
Ms. Kahn-Heller works out of her studio in her Monroe home and has been involved with art in some way for more than 40 years. She is an experienced makeup artist, fashion designer and painter.
"My work is a free-flowing expression of foliage, flowers, shapes and forms," she said. "I feel freer now and I am able to paint what I want. Most of it’s in my head. I’ve expressed so and it’s getting more and more unusual."
She graduated from Syracuse University in New York in 1964. There she more than dabbled in other art forms like fashion illustration and design. Ms. Kahn-Heller also studied at the duCret School of Art in Plainfield and New York University. When Ms. Kahn-Heller first entered the professional arena, she sold one of her fashion designs to a company while continuing to paint on canvas.
She sold some of her paintings to home furnishing stores in New York and New Jersey such as Ethan Allen. She also had the opportunity to freelance fashion designs for the ABC-TV soap opera "Days of Our Lives."
"That was a one-time thing though," Ms. Kahn Heller said.
She apprenticed with Kate Fields of New York and worked with the professional makeup artists for three years.
Ms. Kahn-Heller currently takes a class at Kaufman Cultural Center-Lucy Moses School of Art at West 67th Street in New York City, not because she could use the lessons, but simply to interact with more artists.
"Sometimes you want to be with people while you’re working," Ms. Kahn-Heller said, who signs her paintings just Kahn. "It’s nice. They critique your work so you know what you’re really doing while the instructor goes around the room, you talk to one another."
Her paintings titled "Garden of Eden" and "Fantasy Flower" are on display at John Barry’s restaurant at 36 W. 39th St. in New York City.
She described them as paintings combined with overlays of blended strong and vibrant colors combined with soft moving and free-flowing washes. Like her other paintings, the subject is primarily of flowers, plant life, shapes and forms.
Ms. Kahn-Heller also has her paintings at Morristown Memorial Hospital’s rehabilitation center.
On June 16, the art school is hosting a salon where the artists in the class exhibit their work to the public.
Ms. Kahn-Heller’s paintings also are part of the nonprofit organization Art for Healing at West 50th Street in New York City. Art for healing will display her paintings at two upcoming shows one, on June 10 at the Chrysler building and another on June 24 at the gallery. Both exhibits are open to the public at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and by private appointment.
Ms. Kahn-Heller also has her art on display at the Ward-Nassee Gallery in Soho, New York City, at 516 W. 29th St. The gallery is hosting a show in Chelsea in July.
Yet, even with her art budding all over the New York area, she still operates her local cosmetics company Peggi’s Face Place. She said she still applies makeup for clients on all special occasions from proms to weddings.
For more information on Ms. Kahn-Heller’s makeup applications call, Peggi’s Face Place at (732) 656-9773. For more information on her art call, the Kaufman Cultural Center-Lucy Moses School of Art at (212) 501-3360, the Ward-Nasse Gallery at (212) 925-6951 and Art for Healing at (212) 946-1160.