Plein-air painter Peter Brown – known to many as ‘Pete the Street’ – is in a reflective mood as he sips his mug of tea and takes in the view of the Totterdown skyline.
Newly back from painting China Town in New York – where increasingly, he works with an audience of onlookers – he spent years largely flitting between his adopted home town of Bath, to paint scenes in London, Glasgow, Oxford and Cambridge, in a van perennially full of half-finished paintings.
But somehow, despite its proximity, for a long time Bristol passed him by. “The amazing thing is just how long it took me to get over the bloody hill”, he admits.
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In 2020, with the country moving into lockdown, all that changed. “I literally chucked a dart on a map, and then got hooked”, he recalls. “I started in Perrett’s Park, setting up my easel by the mini roundabout at the end, and then found Victoria Park too, which I didn’t know existed.
“I just love it here. It’s brilliant being a tourist – and constantly thinking, ‘I wonder what’s over that hill?’ And there’s so many bloody hills, so many hillocks and bits and bobs. There’s always more to discover.”
Brown works in all weathers, and all seasons, following his nose until inspiration strikes. And it’s not necessarily familiar landmarks or conventionally beautiful vistas that appeal to him most as an artist.
More than once I’ve stumbled across him, capturing a builder’s yard in an industrial and rapidly changing part of St Philips, or a mock airport terminal (Terminal 1) at Glastonbury.
“With my sort of painting, I’m trying to get rid of the sort of connotations of a place” he muses; “to get away from the stuff that prejudices us and just see it as patterns, space, colours, textures, shape and light. “I’m trying not to analyse it too much, because you’d be creating a formula in a way.”
Although belied by his warmth and easy manner, Brown is quick to describe himself as “a grumpy bugger” – compelled to take his paints on holiday in France in order to improve his mood.
But he also declares a love for an overcast, leaden sky, which is just as well for a painter working so much in the UK. “I’m addicted to fresh air and light”, he says. “Being outside is really good for me.”
Although logistics can be delicate, and blustery weather can pose problems, he likes painting in the rain, under clear umbrellas, citing the beauty of the reflections it casts on the ground. “And if it’s snowing”, he adds, “I’m painting, no matter what.”
In recent years, Brown has amassed a growing social media following, enabling him both to find and connect more directly with his audience – a world which he much prefers to the pressure of the London art scene.
Opening on May 1 and running for 10 days thereafter, the Old Market gallery 17 Midland Road will be exhibiting a wide selection of Brown’s Bristol paintings, made over the course of three and a half years as he made his way around the city.
There is also a book in the offing for mid-November, with a Kickstarter campaign now launched to help with publishing costs.
As Brown finishes his tea, his eye alights on the horizon again. “The really nice thing about what I do is that you’re gassing to people all the time”, he smiles. “I love talking to people for whom the view I’m painting really means something.”
Peter Brown: Bristol is at 17 Midland Road on May 1-11, with a preview party and artist talk on May 1 at 6-8pm.
Visit www.messums.org for more information about the exhibition, or follow @petethestreet1 and @17midlandroad.
You can support the Kickstarter to publish a book of Pete the Street’s Bristol paintings here.
All photos: Peter Brown
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