Peter Cameron
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Peter Cameron Peter Cameron paints full time and shares a work space with 20 other artists at the Elevator Studios in Liverpool, which he describes as “a place of energy and ideas.” Most of Peter’s pictures use soft pastels and focus on people. His figurative works have been described as “where the humour is dark, but the colours are bright” and “funny.” He has been selected to show at numerous London venues including the Mall Gallery’s “discerning Eye Exhibition” and the “Open Pastels” where he won the Alexander Prowse award in 2006. Peter has had solo shows at Cosa gallery and the Pleasance Theatre and joint show at Michael Parkin’s, The South Bank as well as the London art fairs at Battersea, Chelsea and Islington. He has also been involved in solo and joint exhibitions in Derby, Suffolk and Liverpool, and selection for the Cheshire Open. Peter has sold work to a number of high profile individuals including Michael Palin, David Knopov and the late Sir Stephen Tumim. Peter has been involved with The Koestler Art Charitable Trust which encourages and supports artistic endeavours in prisons and special hospitals, described as “places where unexpected talent exist.” He served a stint as a trustee and is still a judge for the annual Koestler exhibition, a role he has shared with Maggie Hambling and Grayson Perry. Peter Cameron won the Alexander Prowse Website Award at the 2007 Pastels Today exhibition at the Mall Galleries London SW1 for the picture "Our Lady of Havanna'. Background Born in 1947, Peter left Britain at two months to live in East Africa for fourteen years. He was educated in Edinburgh and London before going to Liverpool University where he graduated in Biology. He worked in a number of unrelated jobs until 1989 when he started sketching people and decided that this was what he wanted to do. He was shifted from studio to studio at the whim of urban developers who held a different view on the meaning of “city of culture” until The Elevator Studios raised its pretty and permanent head. Peter suffers from Parkinsons, which is a major reason for using pastels. He explains “The closer I am to the surface, the less the tremor and you can’t get much closer than pastels, I use short brushes and patience with oils and acrylics…..such conditions only serve change. One door closing means another one opening. I can now draw with my left hand” Inspiration Peter’s inspiration comes from looking at and thinking about people then grabbing images of them in the things they do and the shapes they adopt. These are then modified and idealised in the studio to suit. The physical images come from several sources other than memory and imagination, especially spontaneous photos and newspapers. He finds the press is the best source of unposed pictures, perfect for the voyeuristic element that exists in so much figurative painting. In this respect, photographers Cartier Bresson and Tom Wood are important as are artists Edward Hopper and Burra. The illustrative influence comes from artists such as Gross, Lautrec and Marvel comics, and various cartoonists. He explains “they all draw so well and there always seems to be an underlying narrative somewhere.” To Paper “I was asked what I wanted to name my first solo show in Chatham, I said ‘other people’ and this is what I explore first via sketches before the definitive piece, though I do tend to, at times, re-visit my sketch book and do another version. “I like to finish one picture at a time.” |