Pieper was born in 1946 and was raised in Massachusetts. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1968 with a degree in History. After she graduated college she decided to start painting. Pieper came to New York City at the age of 21 with only 50 dollars to her name. She was 24 when she began to call herself an artist. She wasn't entirely convinced at that point, but as Pavarotti said, "If you are convinced, everybody is convinced." She is still working on that. Oieper studied watercolor with Lisa Yuskavage for 5 years and now work in watercolor, linoleum block print, and short stop animation.