Peter Barker

Artist's Statement Peter paints what he sees in oils, pastels and watercolours, using all of his faculties, and still gets a great kick out of people buying his work after 32 years painting for a living. Method of Working Peter paints both en plein air for smaller panels in oils, and in the studio for larger works. The larger paintings are worked up using his own photos displayed on a large screen - the next best thing to actually being before the subject. For oils Peter doesn't sketch out the composition, but rather goes straight in with a brush, then scrubs in the darks and works up the painting in layers, mostly using fast-drying Alkyd oils. For pastels, he sketches in first with charcoal and for watercolours in pencil before applying the slabs of colour or washes, respectively. Biographical Details 1954 Born on 3rd January in Banbury, Oxfordshire 1969 Won under 16s Ford National Painting Competition Became golf professional 1972-1983! Won some notable tournaments. Started painting for a living Dec 1st 1983, entirely self taught, but received much early encouragement from renowned landscape artist, Caesar Smith. 1994 Filmed by Anglia Television for a short art slot on prime-time news. 2006 Won Frank Herring Award at the annual Pastel Society Exhibition 2009 Won Ranelagh Press Award and the Stanley Grimm Award at the ROI annual exhibition 2015 Opened up new art gallery - Peter Barker Fine Art in Uppingham www.peterbarkerfineart.co.uk Society Memberships Royal Society of Marine Arti Peter Barker was born in 1954 in the Oxfordshire market town of Banbury where, as a boy, he spent most of his days immersed in the countryside, fishing and fervently observing wildlife and the beauty of his surroundings. It soon became apparent that he had a natural talent for drawing and painting. This passion was ignited further by a delightful and timeless book by author and artist Bernard Venables, ‘Mr Crabtree Goes Fishing’, and this became Peter’s bible. From 1972 to 1983 he was sidetracked by a career as a golf professional, but returned to his inevitable vocation, and has now become a renowned and prolific painter of landscapes and wildlife. Peter paints mostly in oils, and occasionally pastels and watercolour, and is especially known for his life-like depiction of water, and ability to dash off astounding portrayals of tree foliage and vegetation with a 1”, common-or-garden decorator’s brush. He has exhibited with the Pastel Society, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the Royal Society of Marine Artists to which he was elected a full Member in 2015, and has won three awards at these prestigious annual exhibitions: the Frank Herring Award at the Pastel Society in 2006, and the Ranelagh Press award and the Stanley Grimm Prize at the ROI in 2009. Opening his own gallery has now given him the opportunity to be an integral part of the journey a painting takes from easel to newly appointed residence!