Charleston resident and artist Margaret (Midge) Peery initially planned a career focused on objective numerals and factual data rather than such subjective elements as color and atmosphere.

Peery was born in 1941 and grew up in Jackson, North Carolina.  She moved to Charlestonwhere she attended Ashley Hall. She attended from Hollins College and earned her master of arts in mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She worked as an actuary then began watercolor painting in 1981. Peery is largely self-taught and has studied with several artists including workshops with West Fraser.

Using her mathematical skills, Peery constructs a detailed grid before drawing the landscape. She then layers watercolor washes on top of the drawing. In her latest works, Peery explored the atypical and less picturesque urban landscapes of Charleston and documents the rapidly developing and changing city.  She is now working on a series of Greenville, South Carolina cityscapes.

Her work is included in the collections of the Greenville County Museum of Art and the Gibbes Museum of Art.