Margi Hopkins graduated from Denison University, Granville, Ohio with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, specializing in Life Drawing and Printmaking. She has used Prisma Color Pencils since childhood, but discovered color pencil "painting" while attending a weekend workshop organized by author/artist, Vera Curnow in her Rising Sun, Indiana studio; and, taught by award winning artist, Sharon Tiejtjen-Pratt. The technique of layering one color on top of the next and burnishing them together on the surface, though picky and time-consuming, results in a kind of magic that has Margi hooked.

Margi started Pepper Portraits in 2001 while she worked full time as office manager to a local veterinary hospital. In January 2010, the kids grown, Margi left the veterinary field to pursue colored pencil painting full time. Since then she has matured tremendously as an artist, working larger, exploring interesting perspectives and expanding her colored pencil technique. In June 2010, a Pepper Portrait was featured on the cover of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

 

Margi resides in Day Heights, Ohio with her husband, Adam, her Welsh Corgi (Ginger), and her cats (Cleese, Charlotte, and Rocky).