Margo Plageman-Lee
Thank you for visiting my webpage, and giving me an opportunity to tell you about my history, my work and what inspires me.
I am a San Francisco bay area native, having grown up in the SF suburb town of San Mateo. My early childhood love of art, along with the support of caring parents, naturally led me to pursue my art passion throughout my formative years. This eventually led to a formal education in art, culminating with me earning a B.A. in Fine Arts from Cal State Long Beach in 1994.
Having completed this journey, I moved back to my hometown to be with family. The timing and circumstances were perfect, as I was able to stay connected with the art community and, best of all, fully immerse myself in San Francisco State University’s Metal Arts program under Dawn Nakanishi and Julia Turner. Through this program, I found working with base metals and their alloys to be my new passion.
I found satisfaction in the three dimensional aspect of using metal. Also the ability to blend formation techniques was very engaging. I draw on nature for my inspiration to create pieces of both wearable and stationary art.
From my connection with SFSU I was able to participate in the American Craft Council student shows. Having this experience along with numerous workshops and classes has allowed me to continue in my exploration of the metal arts medium.
Today I find my inspirations remain unchanged, drawing from nature in the exploration of natural lines and formations. I have also managed to stay connected to the Metal Arts community through my work with local artist Harriete Estel Berman, whom I have worked for since 1997, as well as my volunteer work at Cubberly Community Art Center (now Palo Alto Art center). The only thing that has changed over time is the additional support of my husband and children, but I still have the same loving parents who fostered my creativity from the very start.
