Soaking In The Bath

New English Art Club president PETER BROWN is back on home turf for his latest exhibition of paintings of Bath, but he still has lots to learn he tells MARTHA ALEXANDER

- Martha Alexander

Peter Brown has gone back to school. The award-winning painter and father of five are currently ensconced at a public school in Lancashire with little in the way of telephone reception and plenty in the way of fresh inspiration.

But Peter isn’t at Stonyhurst College to learn in a traditional sense. He’s on an artist’s residency here, following school life within the imposing gothic building and the rugged landscape that surrounds it.

It’s a long way from Bath, Peter’s adopted hometown, where he lives with his wife Lisa and children Ollie, Toby, Hattie, Ella and Ned (asked if any of the kids might follow in their father’s footsteps and he suggests they might get “proper jobs” instead). Bath is also the city Peter has immortalized hundreds of times in his paintings, but the residency is further evidence that he is also an artist who thrives on change and challenge.

Originally from Newbury, Berkshire, Peter moved to Bath in 1986 for his art foundation course, before leaving to pursue his studies elsewhere. He wasn’t away for long as the Regency glamour of the Somerset city pulled him towards his past – and his paints.

Brown is affectionately known as “Pete The Street”, a name which is assumed by many to refer to his predilection for painting urban scenes, though this isn’t strictly true – it actually came about because he sold his works on the streets of Bath at the start of his career.

When his pal Charlie dropped off some of his paintings for an open call at Bath Society of Artists, the lady at the desk asked if he was “Pete The Street”. “How she came about it I don’t know, but that’s the first I heard of it.”