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W … is for Washing, and Wit!“Watching Me Draw… PTO” shows a row of terrace houses with washing on the line. Peter and hi...
11/10/2026

W … is for Washing, and Wit!

“Watching Me Draw… PTO” shows a row of terrace houses with washing on the line. Peter and his dog drawing in front of them – this was Peters memories of his early days, with sketch book in hand, when people would come up and ask him if he was from the council (fearing he was making notes for a future demolition order). He would reassure them that he was only an artist and they would leave him alone.

Lines of washing always caught his eye and appear in various paintings, he liked the horizontal lines they offered, and the contrasting colours offered by brightly coloured clothing.

Peter’s dry and occasionally eccentric wit was well known, his titles often humorous. He would see the abnormal in the mundane, find unusual links in his paintings,

One famously titled painting was called “David Hockney Arriving in Bradford to spend Christmas with his mother and design the cover for the Telephone Directory F.O.C.” – the painting has little to do with Hockney, there is simply a vapour trail in the sky (this being the plane carrying Hockney!)

V … is for VarietyPeter painted many different locations, from Scotland in the north, to Cornwall in the south. He paint...
09/10/2026

V … is for Variety

Peter painted many different locations, from Scotland in the north, to Cornwall in the south. He painted in Northumberland, in Staffordshire, in Lancashire, and Cumbria.

He enjoyed looking through photographs from holidays taken by friends and family and would often produce a painting after such viewings… one friends visit to Japan inspired the attached “Visit to Fuji…. In your Dreams”

Other paintings came on the back of someone showing him their photos from a safari holiday.

He would enjoy visiting places through other peoples eyes (and cameras) and took it all in.

U … is for the University of OxfordIn 1974 Peter received a prestigious commission. The Oxford University Press publishe...
08/10/2026

U … is for the University of Oxford

In 1974 Peter received a prestigious commission. The Oxford University Press publishes its annual almanac of university events and invites a painter every year to provide the cover image. Some very celebrated artists have shared the distinction.

Oxford itself failed to inspire Peter and it was only when taken to lunch in a village close by that he found his subject, the Cotswold stone cottages and farm buildings… Whilst the University liked the work, and it was used, they did comment to Peter that they thought he had given their Cotswold village a “northern feel” … a comment that he never really understood!

T (Part II) … is for TreesTrees often became a focal point of Peters paintings, he loved to paint them in winter, when t...
06/10/2026

T (Part II) … is for Trees

Trees often became a focal point of Peters paintings, he loved to paint them in winter, when their structure could be clearly seen. His ability to catch their precise shapes was quite unique. He would use a wire brush (originally used for cleaning spark plugs!) and a knife. The feathery trace of branches in winter were painted with amazing realism.

Peter loved walking, and running, through woods, as much as he did the open moors. Thus Trees surrounded him often, never more so than in Bradley Woods, close to his home and the area he would walk in every day. Many of Peters most striking paintings were of Bradley Woods, usually in winter, featuring snow of course! However other paintings were equally striking – a row of trees by a wall, exposed but standing strong, a lone tree left by a crumbled barn, witness to the declining landscapes that Peter felt so strongly about

Image: The woods are lovely, dark and deep

T (Part I) … is for TechniquePeter used a small roller which he had for over 45 years to give his images a smooth textur...
05/10/2026

T (Part I) … is for Technique

Peter used a small roller which he had for over 45 years to give his images a smooth texture. Straighter edges were made by a newer roller, or occasionally a scalpel. He would smudge and adjust his paint by using his hands, or rags. It seemed he rarely used brushes, though they had their place in his repertoire. Years of experience gave him the confidence to achieve the effect he wanted exactly. In his studio he would often have up to a dozen paintings, all at different stages, waiting (as he would say) for the “inevitable to happen”

In his early years Peter often mixed sandstone (acquired at a local quarry) into his oils to give the buildings and walls more texture and realism. By the 1970’s he strove for a flatter, smoother effect, and would use thinned paint smoothed by rags, fingers and rollers.

Peter was a ‘painters painter’ – deeply concerned by composition, shape and texture.

Things We've Learnt About Framing #1The frame doesn't always have to come first…When you're choosing how to frame a pic...
05/10/2026

Things We've Learnt About Framing #1

The frame doesn't always have to come first…

When you're choosing how to frame a picture, it's easy to start with the frame.
You might see a style you love and immediately think, “That would look great.”
And sometimes it will.
But good framing is about looking at the whole picture — the artwork, the mount, the frame and where the finished piece is going to live.

Some artwork benefits from a mount, while other pieces look better without one. Sometimes the artwork itself dictates the frame; sometimes the frame is the starting point.
There isn't always a right or wrong answer.
The important thing is finding the combination that works best for the artwork.

That's why, when you visit one of our galleries, we'll often ask a few questions before suggesting a frame.

Because good framing starts with asking questions.

S (Part II) … is for Snow (No prizes for guessing this one)Eskimos apparently have 23 different words for snow… Peter pa...
04/10/2026

S (Part II) … is for Snow (No prizes for guessing this one)

Eskimos apparently have 23 different words for snow… Peter painted most of them!

Peter LOVED snow… he was thrilled when the snow came, filling up his beloved valleys and moors. Walls, buildings, trees and skies became sharper to Peter in the snow and he was one of very few artists who could truly ‘capture’ snow in his paintings. He ran through snow, he walked miles through it and the ethereal surroundings he found himself in out in the wilds inspired him. He was almost obsessive about recreating those winter landscapes he loved so much. His titles often ‘cut to the chase’…titles such as “Bloody Freezing” and “Walking over a frozen field”.

Often signs appear in his paintings warning that roads are closed, and invariably we can see Peter and his dog in the snowy distance, intrepid as ever.

Peter once explained… “My pictures have always been a good deal to do with the weather. If its snowing, what type of snow, is it softly falling or big flakes falling, is it drifting or is it slushy show, or is it the hard horizontal snow that creates a white out… Snow always adds to the drama of a painting. Whenever it snowed I would do long runs in my favourite area, gathering information. The sight of all those Pennine Farms under snow always knocked me out”

Image - 'Early lamb and larger flakes falling'

S (Part I) … is for SheepPeter had a great affection for sheep, and a wide knowledge of their habits and their breeds. H...
03/10/2026

S (Part I) … is for Sheep

Peter had a great affection for sheep, and a wide knowledge of their habits and their breeds. He could capture their posture exactly. In his paintings we often see them as they stare impassively towards the viewer, often sheltering under walls, they often wander forward as if walking out the picture. They graze, they watch, they meet at feeding points, they cross roads, sometimes they are started by visitors, ruffled by the wind, or lying in the middle of a road (Peter understood that sheep do this so they can lick the salt off the road in and because the road temperature is higher at night than in a field)…. Peter often made sheep the star of his paintings!

IMAGE – SHEEP ON THE ROAD

R … is for Running At the age of 40 Peter began a distinguished career as a fell and cross country runner. He was traine...
02/10/2026

R … is for Running

At the age of 40 Peter began a distinguished career as a fell and cross country runner. He was trained by the famous fell runner Josh Naylor. He ran his first 3 peaks race in a very fast time of 3 hours 27 minutes. He joined the Holmfirth Harriers club and ran every sunday morning with them, often on obscure tracks over the Pennines and it was during these runs that he would see images and views that would later become paintings. They did not know he was a painter until one of his running companions saw one of his exhibitions in Huddersfield and said to his wife "We pass that when we go running every Sunday morning. How the bloody hell has he done that then?!"

Peter was a fierce competitor, always striving for perfection, whether in running or painting.

01/10/2026

📆 Good morning October!

This is Peter Brook's tenth print in his Twelve Months of the Year series, capturing the Yorkshire countryside in October, with an empty road leading us towards the Pennine Hills. ⛰️

🎨 Peter Brook, OCTOBER Pennine Road 1976–7. Tate

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