Peter Symonds
Landscape Artist, Ewhurst.
Peter Symonds was born in 1964 in Surrey and continues to live in the countryside of that same county with his wife and two children in Ewhurst. He started painting full time having graduated from Leicester University in 1986. He is self-taught, though in the early days of his career, Peter enjoyed help and guidance from the wildlife artist David Shepherd.
He paints exclusively in oils on canvas. His work has been exhibited widely, and hangs in many collections both at home and throughout the world. Many of Peter’s paintings have been reproduced by the Fine Art publishers Solomon and Whitehead, and since 1998 he has published many of his own prints, predominantly of the English Lake District.
In 2001 he received an award for two prints of the Mediterranean. His work has also been reproduced as greeting cards and calendars. Peter travels widely, both at home and abroad, in search of subjects – but it is to wild and remote places that he is particularly drawn. His paintings are fundamentally born out of a deep love for the great outdoors – and he is passionate about the landscapes that he interprets in his work.
Although he has to be moved by the scenery itself, it is normally the play of light on it that most excites him. His aim is for his paintings to grab the attention of the viewer, often through the use of strong tonal variation and an interesting play of light and colour.
He loves to paint a wide variety of scenery throughout each of the seasons, as he believes it is all too easy to stagnate by limiting one’s subject matter. He particularly enjoys painting, walking and camping in wild mountainous places, whether it be the Himalayas, Alps, Scottish Highlands or the English Lake District.
These expeditions provide him with a wealth of subject matter and are intrinsically entwined with his ethos of being a landscape painter.
Exhibitions
W H Patterson Gallery, London W1
Clifton Gallery, Bristol
Bourne Gallery, Reigate
Beckstones Gallery, Lake District
