PETER STILES

Peter Stiles immerses himself in the landscape of North Devon – often working en plein air - his paintings dance between landscape and abstraction. At the Slade School of Fine Art, Peter learnt his trade from Euan Uglow, Jeffrey Camp and Sir William Coldstream.

Since 1980, Peter has made Hartland and Welcombe a focal point of his dedicated artist practice. Painting through every season - Peter has come to know the cliffs and rock formations intimately. As Dr Paul Harper notes, “these paintings oscillate between reason and imagination, abstraction and depiction. They seem to be at once rooted in a deep sense of place and to transcend their origin to stand for something general.”

Peter’s deep understanding of art history informs his curiosity about composition and colour. He finds in both the Romanesque to Matisse a grandeur and scale that is echoed in his landscapes. A key moment in his development as an artist came about through his discovery of the work of Frans Hals in his early 20s.  He used to carry reproductions of the Dutch master’s portraits in his pocket to look at when he needed a boost.

“If you tried to enter a Frans Hals painting in the same way that you enter a Rembrandt painting, certain energies are accepted, others rejected, reflected back at you. And I could use that reflected energy to get things done. I’m not in that state anymore but its still the experimental effect of paintings, colour, line, form, that ‘energises’.”

Peter’s work has been shown widely, including shows across the UK in London, Exeter, Bristol and Swansea.  Throughout his career, Peter has curated and facilitated exhibitions of artists he admires. He is currently Co-Director StudioKIND in Barnstable and was previously Gallery Director at  The Plough Arts Centre, Torrington. He is an accomplished  writer and formed the Art Writers Group with Jo Lanyon and Grace Davies.