LEFT: Biggs stands in Quayside Gallery with her work. The popular saying "you can't go back home" is usually a commonly held truth. But local artist and Pensacola native Margaret Elizabeth Biggs has defied that truth.

After living abroad modeling and then settling down into family life "up north" Biggs recently returned home. And she finds herself very much at home.

Not only has she found herself back in love with the locale of her youth, she has been embraced by a local art culture that is full of exceptional talent and competition. She was almost immediately accepted into the Pensacola Museum of Art Juried Members Show, and has shown there for the last two summers in a row.

ABOVE CENTER: "River"

Margaret’s work is on display and available at Signature Studios in Destin located at 36062 Emerald Coast Highway in Destin, just east of Destin Commons. 

Biggs' work will be in the Pensacola Beach Art and Wine Weekend, scheduled for Sat. October 3 from 11a.m. to 5 p.m.and Sunday October 4 from noon to 5p.m. The festival will be held at different venues all over Pensacola Beach, so keep your eyes open for her work!

"I do not yet know for certain in which business they will place me, but I will be out there and I am excited to participate! I love the beach and I love the water," she says.

Her return home has increased her inspiration to paint, and she also has begun writing poetry since she's returned home, poetry inspired by her paintings.

"My work is not only a reflection of how I see the natural world, it is a statement of spirituality," Biggs says. "Whether the piece is of an enlarged seashell or the surface of the water blown up to the point of abstraction, I am honoring our Creator in my attempt to focus the viewer's eye on what is so often in their realm of vision, yet they fail to see. There is magic everywhere. Focus. Feel the peace that is offered by our Creator in the form of our natural world. It is so precious."

ABOVE RIGHT: "Shell" Biggs will also be participating in the Destin Festival of Arts being held at The Henderson Beach State Park.Over 100 premier artists from across the United States will display their original artwork in over 18 mediums. Other festival amenities include live entertainment, bistro food court, student and adult collaborative art exhibit and ArtStop, a children's interactive arts activity booth. Admission is $3 donation per adult and free to children under 12.

Other local artists participating include: Nancilee Overdyke/jewelry, Gulf Breeze; Michael Smith/photography, Gulf Breeze; Diane Brim/mixed media, Navarre; Lonnie Rich/wood and stone sculpture, Navarre; Skip White/jewelry , Navarre; and Holly Bain/photography, Navarre.

Destin Festival of Arts will be held on Sat. Oct. 24th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday Oct. 25th from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

The Best of American Oil Painters selected two of Biggs' paintings for their fall issue. The BOAA produces a softcover coffee table book, and three of her pieces will be in the Fall issue of Best of American Oil Painters. It will sell for $40.

Find out more about Margaret Biggs on her web page, www.margaretbiggs.com.