Born in Walla Walla, WA to Reverend Robin and Kriss Peterson, Cleo Peterson grew up on a small family farm just outside of College Place, Washington.  She graduated from Walla Walla High School in 2001 and in May 2005, graduated from the University of Puget Sound (UPS) with a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and a minor in French.  Although her focus is in painting, Cleo also works in wood sculpture, drawing and printmaking.  In 2003 she won Best in Medium for Painting at the UPS student show and in the summer of 2004, Cleo earned a summer research grant to paint and study the social effects of college suicide culminating in a seven-piece painting series entitled Student Emotions, which was later shown in the Karpeles Museum of Tacoma, WA.  Because of this project, Cleo was then nominated for the 2004 USA Today All-Academic Team and given Honorable Mention.

 As an artist, Cleo strives to evoke mood and emotion in her work through light, color and texture.  Her goal is to create a feeling in her art that resonates with every audience member based on his or her individual experience.  Although some of her works are representational, landscape, portrait or still-life, Cleo considers herself an abstract expressionist.  The expressed feelings range from nervousness and anxiety, sadness and depression to peacefulness and hope.  By ultimately forcing an interaction between the artwork and audience, she allows the artwork to speak for itself in a visual language that affects each viewer differently.