Biography: Margot Schulzke, PSA, PSWC-DP; DPS, KA

PSWC Hall of Fame: Pastel Laureate™, 2006
Signature member Pastel Society of America, Degas Pastel Society
Distinguished Pastelist, Pastel Society of the West Coast
Elected Artist Member, California Art Club, and American Artists Professional League

Margot Schulzke’s name and her work are well known coast to coast. A longtime columnist for The Pastel Journal, she is widely regarded as an authority on the subject of composition and design. Her recent book, A Painter’s Guide to Design and Composition (Northlight) was released, to rave reviews, February 2006. The highly respected Pastel Society of the West Coast has ranked her as a Distinguished Pastelist since 1988, an honor extended to only 26 of PSWC’s approximately 400 members. In April, 2006, the society added another signal honor, that of the PSWC Pastel Laureate™ Award. She the fourth artist to be so honored. (The award is not given annually.)

Her work has been featured in a number of books and articles; a appears below. She has served as a juror for many exhibitions, including The Pastel Journal Pastels 100 (2004). She is juror of awards for Pastels USA 2008, Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA, and the Northwest Pastel Society National Open Exhibition, Gig Harbor, WA, 2008.

Believing as she does that fine traditional paintings must be able to stand on their own as abstract compositions, Schulzke's primary interest is in shapes and proportion, making cityscapes her signature theme. Her love of color is a close second. She notes, however, that design concept and subjective content are necessarily interwoven; one supports the other. Intrigued as she is by the history associated with ancient cities and buildings, she finds those associations bring added layers of meaning. The resulting richness provides what she describes as "a texture of thought," which become effectively braided into the work's design quality.

Her abiding interest in the shores and mountain streams of her native California and the Pacific Coast makes them another prominent thread in her body of work. She paints and teaches in the High Sierra, as well as Mexico, and haunts the rocks and shoreline from Point Lobos to Bandon, Oregon.

As a native of San Francisco, Margot Schulzke absorbed early the stunning images of the city’s architecture, its broad ethnic variety, and its marvelous hills, sea and shore. Other lasting influences: Her father was an insatiable reader of ancient history, creating his own eight-foot long timeline of the events in the Assyrian, Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek and Roman civilizations, which father and daughter pored over together on many occasions. And her Norwegian mother was an inveterate traveler. People of varied ethnic backgrounds were always welcome guests, and they continue to be so in the artist’s home today. They are an ever-present influence in her work as reflected in her third major theme, a series of paintings of Hispanic women and children.

So the fact that she has always thirsted to immerse herself in what was on the far shore comes as no surprise. She goes where few travelers do, such as Israel in the spring of 2004, the tiny nation of Moldova (a former Soviet Republic) one month after Gorbachev’s resignation, and troubled Guatemala in May of 2003. Traveling independently, she takes advantage of every opportunity to get close to the culture of the area. She has hired translators specifically to interview them for more insight into local history, taking extensive notes. The result is that the sense of place in her work is particularly strong.

Selected Exhibitions and Honors

PSWC Pastel Laureate™ 2006
Pastels USA 19th Annual International Exhibition, 2005, San Luis Opispo, Award
Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, Mississippi, 2004-5
Pastels USA, Triton Museum, Santa Clara, Ca., 2004
Degas Pastel Society Biennial, New Orleans, 1988, 2004, Pastel Society of America Award
Salmagundi Club, New York; Audubon Society National Open Exhibition, 2002
Pastel Society of the West Coast, Pastels USA International Exhibition, thirteen awards in seventeen years: 1986-2004
Distinguished Emeritus Award, BYU, 2000
Pastel Society of North Florida, 1996, award
Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, New Jersey, invitational exhibition, 1994
Springville Museum, Springville, Utah, Spring Salon, 1993
Pastel Society of America, National Arts Club, Pastels Only, 1986 through 1993
Quincy Museum Invitational Exhibition, Quincy, Illinois, 1992
Toronto, Canada International Invitational Exhibition, 1992
Society of Western Artists, San Francisco, multiple open exhibitions

Books and Publications featuring Margot Schulzke’s work

A Painter's Guide to Design and Composition, full color, Margot Schulzke, author; North Light Books, Cincinnati, OH, 2006.

Pure Color, the Best of Pastel, North Light Books, 2006

Best of Pastel, full color; Rockport Publishers, Rockport Mass., 1992

Best of Pastel II, full color, Rockport, 1999

Landscape Inspirations, full color; Rockport, 1997

Pastel Interpretations, full color, Madlyn Ann Woolwich, North Light Books, 1993

Who's Who in America, 2008

Who’s Who in the American Art, every edition since 1993

Who's Who in American Women, 2006-7 Edition

Who's Who in the West, 95-96, 97-98, 99-00

The Pastel Journal, feature article as a juror of Pastel 100 Competition (3,000 entries), April, 2004

Guide to the Arts Magazine, cover and feature article, color, Summer 2001

California Seasons Magazine, cover, feature article, color, Spring 1998

Artist’s Magazine, two articles, 1992, January and June issues

Plus literally dozens of articles by the artist, published in The Pastel Journal (where she is a contributing editor) from 1999-present, in her column, The Artist’s Viewpoint, which is read by artists coast to coast.  See Publications page for more information.