"I do not remember a time when art was not the focus of my life."
I began oil painting at age 5 as a way for my godfather, painter Bill Larkin, to keep me still so he could paint my portrait. A year later I had a one-girl show of my oil paintings. By high school, I had branched out to set design and began designing for summer stock theaters. I graduated Bennington College with degrees in both painting and set design. After apprenticing on Broadway two winters, I thought I would make my career in New York. But it was the late 60’s and San Francisco was calling my name. I could not refuse.
Arriving on the West Coast, I knew instantly this was the place for me. The light, the weather, the openness of the people all grabbed me and I was a goner. I became designer at the San Francisco Mime Troupe. During six years there, I learned to juggle literally and metaphorically. Juggling motherhood, career and personal passions, I co-founded the Pickle Family Circus. My children, Gypsy Snider and Lorenzo Pisoni, performed by my side.
Peggy Snider and Larry Pisoni, Pickle Family Circus
I spent eighteen years managing the company, performing, and designing the costumes, masks, props and backdrops. During that period, I also designed award-winning sets and costumes for other Bay Area theatrical companies, including Berkeley Repertory Theater, The Marin Theater Company, Dell’Arte Players and the Eureka Theater Company.
Since then, I have been a model maker, upholsterer, set decorator and wardrobe worker on numerous films, including Popeye, Patch Adams, Bicentennial Man, Sphere and Matrix II and Matrix III. I was on the staff of the Wardrobe Department of Nash Bridges for five years. I have been a photographer since 1965 and a ceramic sculptor since 1980.