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Fascinating People Portraits Peter Worsley |
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About Me: My serious work in the visual arts began in 1996, when I retired after some fifty years in industry. It enabled me to pursue a deep seated desire to become an artist-painter.
Living in Santa Barbara, California, is fortunate. The area has a long tradition with the visual arts. Over the years, it has become the home of many famous artists.
Today their contemporaries teach as part of the local adult education programs, and many have provided me with guidance along my chosen path.
England
Born in 1929, in a western suburb of London, England, I was brought up during the depression, and World War II.
My interest in documenting the world around me must have been installed early. I clearly remember as a small boy carrying around a notebook to record and sketch my thoughts and ideas.
As a teenager I developed instruction sheets containing hundreds of flag waving little cartoon characters. The idea was to teach my fellow Scouts Semaphore (a method of signalling using flags).
As a child, I was largely home schooled, yet somehow obtained a scholarship to a prestigious West London private high school (Latymer Upper School - in England known as a "Public Day School").
There, during World War II, all my teachers must have either come out of retirement or were otherwise medically or physically deferred from military service.
Early Artwork
An early significant artworks were produced at high school. It was the early - 1940's and I created some award winning poster designs to promote the purchase of Saving (Bond) Stamps.
About the same time, I acquired an interest in theater lighting. I built and demonstrated models to experiment with painting the stage and backdrops with colored light. And helped out the stage crew of school and local drama productions.
Upon graduating from high school I was immediately drafted into the Royal Air Force, where I was trained in radar and electronics.
In 1950, upon completion of my obligations, I joined the North London research laboratories of a large diverse company, Elliott Brothers – long since merged into even bigger conglomerates.
They suggested that I continue my studies at the London University. The intense program required attending classes every evening and one full day a week, until I graduated in 1953.
During this same time period, the company put me through a comprehensive hands-on apprenticeship program. I spent three month stretches in a wide range of departments, workshops, and laboratories.
These years of learning and practical experience produced skills have been put to use many times throughout my life.
The USA
In 1956, a small Southern California company approached me to come to work at their facility in Santa Monica. I accepted and started the several month long process of obtaining a visa.
During this time, I met my wife-to-be, a surgical nurse, at a dance near London. We became engaged, and a year later married.
She joined me in California where we set up home in a tiny apartment at nearby Malibu, right on the beach.
Acrylic
There I began experimenting with acrylic painting. But work pressures kept me from producing much. Apart from a few paintings I gave away, all this early work was lost in a 1990 house fire.
I was never much interested in engineering and research. Ever since my early working days in England, my contributions were mostly in areas of marketing and sales for '"high-tech" products and services.
In 1968 we moved first to San Diego, then moved again to Santa Barbara in 1970.
Retirement
When I finally retired in 1996, I was able to study with some of the wonderful local artists who teach as part of the Santa Barbara adult education program.
After some exploration of techniques and materials, I chose to work in watercolor. Everyone told me it was "the more difficult medium." For me that only made it more interesting. All my life I have loved challenges!
Early Studies
To better understand the basics of painting, I took an 18 month cycle on art theory, offered by local watercolor artist Cathy Quiel.
This was followed by periods of studio studies, critiques, figure drawing, and "en plein air," drawing and painting under local artists including John Iwerks, Paula Sandefur, Duane Unkefer, Jorgen Hansen, Chris Chapman, Jim Armstrong, Thomas Van Stein, and Michael Drury.
I took many classes and read everything I could find on the subject. Upon being introduced to painting in the outdoors, i obtained an appreciation of the task to simplifying the real world into a two dimensional painting. Also, I began to recognize the subtle colors and shades of a landscape.
Figures
But, always I found a great desire to include people in my paintings. People add life. Landscapes, while often beautiful, somehow seemed lacking in reality without people.
To improve my people painting skills, I added many classes in drawing and painting of the figure, both in indoors and outdoors settings – both nude and clothed.
Recent
From these early attempts and struggles, I have evolved where today I paint primarily portraits, both as solo models and people in groups – and sometimes as large groups or crowds.
I enjoy painting the occasionally crowd scene. It is a challenge and entertaining to capture people in action – going about their lives.
Today mostly I paint in oil. My recent paintings may be viewed in Galleries around the Santa Baraba Area in at my private studio and gallery by appointment.
Santa Barbara
Active in the local art community, I am a Past President of both the Santa Barbara Art Association and the Goleta Valley Art Association, a member of the Santa Barbara Studio Artists, The Los Padres Watercolor Society, and of SCAPE (the Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment), a Patron Member of the California Art Club, and a Founder and Director of the Santa Barbara Visual Arts Alliance.
Today and The Future
Studying art and art history is a never ending process, with always more to discover and skills to hone. Painting is a continual learning process. I am always experimenting - trying new subjects, new methods, and new materials.
Most of my current work is produced in the studio. If you are local or are planning a visit to Santa Barbara, Contact Me or call for an appointment and to visit my Studio and Private Gallery.
Updated: July 2007.
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Photo Credit: Josh Hulstein.