showcase your art to thousands
of visitors every day

Peter Partington was born in 1941. From his early teens he lived by Poole Harbour and it proved to have a deep influence. It was easy to escape from school and sit watching the shore-line; holidays and weekends were often spent bird watching and exploring its inlets and unspoilt reaches, where sea and marsh intermingle with woodland and meadow .

He started sketching at an early age, pursuing this interest more seriously at Bournemouth College of Art and later, Middlesex. He taught art students for many years until demand for his work encouraged him to pursue painting and printmaking professionally. Since then his hand-coloured dry-points, etchings, and original water-colours have been avidly collected; he has had numerous one-man shows. He writes magazine articles and his illustration work for books and cards has exposed him to a wider audience. His book for Collins "Learn to Paint Birds in Watercolour" was launched in 1989 at the Tryon Gallery, Cork Street, London. He has followed this with three further books in the Learn to Draw series; Wildlife, Farm Animals and Birds. They are written with real enthusiasm for the subject and are delightfully illustrated.

In his paintings he seeks out the effects of light and weather on the landscape and its birds, and expresses this through the discipline and yet freedom of water-colour. Robert Gillmor has described his technique as 'magical'. Few can grasp the intense labour and concentration that has gone into these apparently effortless expressions about the natural world. He is at his happiest in the field working in his sketchbook, keenly observing bird plumage and wildlife behaviour. It is said that he paints with understanding, wit and feeling. His interest has once again turned to sculpture, which he is currently exploring with great enjoyment.

He has been elected to the Society of Wildlife Artists. The International Museum of Wildlife Art has several pieces of his work in its collection.

He was invited in the Spring of 1992, by the Artists for Nature Foundation, to join their group of artists to record the Briebrza Wetlands to publicise the need for their conservation. He was invited again to Extramadura in Spain in 1994. Both trips resulted in sumptuous books which contain examples of his work. His talent has gained deserved recognition as a prize winner in the European Bird Art Competition. He willingly shares his expertise and he now writes regularly for 'The Artist' magazine on a range of painting subjects from landscape to weather, to birds and drawing.

He is now living near Lavenham in rural Suffolk, which provides much of the inspiration for his recent works.

 next artist