ANDREA PEJEAU is a working artist represented by several galleries in the Southeastern United States and is the fourth generation, in her family, to make a career on canvas. It was more of a legacy than a learned labor. "I come from a long line of artists dating back to my great-grandmother," Pejeau said, "It is a family thing, I just grew up with it. From early on, I remember my parents always painting side by side." Andrea Pejeau has always loved the beach, and spending her summers on the beaches of Nantucket, Florida, Lake Michigan and Cape Cod where her parents painted.

The love of the arts, which was passed onto Pejeau, was also inherited by her siblings. Her brother is a sculptor in Pennsylvania and her identical twin sister is a watercolorist in Raleigh, NC.

Beach Portrait of the Watt's grandchildren 24" x 30" pastel

Ms. Pejeau holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from Ohio University, and has studied art in Florence and Greece, as well as studying the work of the Old Masters on the continent of Europe. The Michigan native also has 10 years of teaching experience ranging from art history and anatomy to figure drawing and graphic design. She spent six years teaching at the Art Institute of Dallas.

Two years were spent on the Caribbean Island of St. Croix where she studied the effect of intense light, shadows and the reflections created by the water. Her use of color and the energy, in her line work, are reflected in her paintings of the children on the beach.

Andrea Pejeau's paintings attract people because of the subject matter and her fine technical skills. When she is working with clients she will accompany the family or the child to the beach. Once settled, she will photograph and sketch the child or family at play. She than returns to her studio where she will interpret the session into a playful, loose gestural pastel painting.