LAURIE WEIR
Where some may sit idly scrolling on their cell phones, a Perth self-taught artist pulls out her tools of the trade and sketches what she sees around her.
Peggy Schenk finds simplicity in pen and ink line drawing, often sitting on a patio in downtown Perth or a park bench. No matter where she goes, her pens, watercolours and sketchbooks are at the ready. And they don’t take up much space – a little carry-on handbag works well as an art caddy, complete with a stool, sketchbooks, pens, pencils, and even a waterbrush.
Born in Sault St. Marie, she moved to Kelowna B.C. and lived there for 37 years. Her father retired and her parents wanted to live in a milder climate, she said.
Most recently from Wasaga Beach, she and her husband moved to Perth five years ago.
“We travelled through here when we were on vacation and I just really like the old heritage buildings of Perth,” she said. “Because my favourite thing to sketch is architecture so this attracted me to it.”
A retired bank teller, Schenk found a love of pen and ink seven years ago after folk-art style acrylic painting for some 30 years.
“I got tired of it,” she said. “I wanted to streamline it. I wanted to have less stuff — to purge all of the acrylic paint and these big boards. I didn’t want that anymore.”
Schenk learned to sketch with pen and ink on the internet. She then learned the technique of adding watercolour.
“I really liked that – I like the style, simplicity, freedom, and the wonkiness of it.”
She has no formal training, but she’s taken online winter classes.
“I prefer to be outside to sketch on location,” she said. “When winter comes, it’s tough for me. I don’t like winter – the cold and the snow.”
Schenk sells a lot of her work on postcards. She has an Etsy shop for them, they are in many of the shops in Perth.
“I do a lot of commissions of house and storefront portraits. They make wonderful gifts,” she said.
Sometimes, when she is sketching in town, she will post the finished piece on her Facebook page and someone will reach out to enquire about it, and often make a purchase.
Schenk’s work comes in 5×7-inch and 8×10-inch sizes. She has 2025 calendars available now with sketches of Perth. They are available at Pharmasave, The Book Nook and at Matheson House Museum gift shop.
One of her commissioned pieces was gifted to a store owner, who created appointment cards with the image. It all evolved organically, and she can work with clients on their personalized pieces.
She says she’s spontaneous in her work, and if the sun is shining, she’ll go for a walk around town, bike ride or drive. But walking or biking is best “because that’s how I find my locations. You don’t see anything if you’re sitting in a car.”
Schenk said she is not one to go find the prettiest garden or sexiest shoreline. She likes the power lines, recycling bins, and the cars in her sketches, because “it’s part of our life and I have to introduce them into my artwork,” she said. “I want to portray the everyday things that are around us.”
She will pick a portion of a building – like the Louvre in France – where she will choose a corner of the building to sketch, then add watercolour, sometimes on location.
“To do the whole building, it can be overwhelming,” she said.
The people she sketches don’t always play a prominent role. She likes the ghost figures sometimes, or those without colour, while the blackboards of a coffee shop will take centre stage.
“I use minimalist colour because I focus on my line work, my pen and ink. I do not call myself a watercolour painter. I just add watercolour to what I’m focusing on.”
Schenk’s art captures the essence of everyday life, seen through her eyes as something worth pausing for — a shadow on a brick wall, or the curve of a forgotten alleyway. Her work invites us to look beyond the obvious and find beauty in the simple, unassuming corners of our world. “I’ve been sketching with pen and ink for seven years,” she said. “The only way to get good at it is to practise, practise, practise.”
Schenk’s choice of this medium highlights her desire to strip away the unnecessary and focus on the purity of her subjects.
This simplicity can be incredibly powerful, demonstrating that art doesn’t need to be complex or heavily adorned to be meaningful and impactful. Her work stands out because it finds beauty in the everyday, something many people can connect with and appreciate.
As she continues to roam the streets of Perth with her pens and sketchbook in hand, Schenk reminds us all to slow down, observe, and appreciate the quieter moments that often go unnoticed.
