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artportfolio: Peter Thornborough

Chanctonbury Ring

Chanctonbury Ring

A hill fort based ring of trees crowning Chanctonbury Hill on the South Downs.

Original
Acrylic on canvas
51cm x 76cm

Introduction

Statement

I suffer for my art. Whether it’s by sunstroke from sitting in a field of wheat painting an Italian hill town, torn flesh from clambering through ditches and brambles to get that better view, or ruined espadrilles from cowpats as I trespass for the perfect angle from which to sketch or photograph.

 

My art is inspired by architecture. There’s architecture in the structure of a cliff, a stand of winter trees, the rushing of a river, the furrows of a ploughed field. Travel inspires me, as do Neolithic structures.

 

I studied in oil. I now work in acrylic, and sometimes pastel, on a variety of medium including board, panel and canvas.

 

I employ a variety of different styles to suit the current subject, often contrasting broad areas of surface texture with areas of intense detail. Consequently, I need to reach for the bigger brushes occasionally. Or paint a portrait.

 

My artistic influences include Paul Nash, Eric Ravilious, Turner and the photographer Michael Kenna.

Biography

Born and educated in Sydney, Australia, Peter studied fine art painting at East Sydney College of Art. He exhibited in Sydney, before becoming an animator, and then an Art Director in the advertising industry.

He then left Australia to travel and settled in London in the mid-1970s.

There, Peter's output was entirely consumed by advertising as Creative Director and Illustrator. In 2001 he found the time to return to his lifelong passion, painting.

He exhibits in galleries in and around London and, since 2003, annually at the Chiswick Artists-At-Home Open Studios.

He has exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, had a One Man Show on the island of Mon in Denmark two years running, and takes commissions, one of which included a series of 19th Century Indian Maharajahs.