Norman Peterson enjoyed a career teaching literature at Wellesley and Williams Colleges before returning to art, which he had studied at the Pratt Institute in the heyday of abstract expressionism.

Norm characterizes his works as non-representational expressionism. They result, he says, from a playful painting process similar to a conversation. The first paint he applies assumes a voice of its own, to which he must respond, over and over, until the conversation seems to conclude.  Only when the painting tells him "enough is enough" does he consider it done!