Peter Smith

Peter Smith grew up in Walthamstow, East London, worked with very early computers for Customs and Excise, and was Marketing Director for an international Company.

His earliest recorded painting is a competent self- portrait from 1948. With no formal training he found his own voice that changed over the many years but was always recognisable as his hand. Wherever he went, all his life, he sketched and painted a record of his travels.

The subjects of his art were influenced by his experiences sailing and mountain climbing; from crossing the Atlantic and Everest Base camp to his love of the Alps and especially Snowdonia. 

In the 80’s he moved to Leigh on sea, Essex. His Studio was at the top of the Cliffs and house at the bottom, yards from the sea, with magnificent views across the ever changing Thames Estuary. Here his output took off, painting every day, ever inventive.

Peter exhibited at The Crypt (London), Beecroft (Westcliff on sea) galleries in N Wales and various local venues until he became the mainstay of a new local gallery, with at least one solo show there every year for 18 years.

At this time he regularly experimented with Abstraction in various forms, sometimes with discernible links to figuration, at others just pure line, form and colour for the joy of its own sake.

The present work is part of a series from 2007, exploring the use of household paints used on horizontal canvases and indistinctly relates to a studio view of the Thames.