Peter Pettegrew

For the month of December, Peter will be the featured artist at the Ponte Vedra Golf and Country Club. The opening reception was held in the beautifully decorated clubhouse, where many of Peters collectors joined him in a joyful Christmas celebration. Peter is represented by Stellers Gallery www.stellersgallery.com which is also located in Ponte Vedra Beach.

As usual, the St. Johns Riverkeeper hosted the best party of the year at it’s now famous Oyster Roast this November. The Riverkeeper is an effective watchdog for the beautiful St. Johns River which flows North for hundreds of miles before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean in Jacksonville. See www.stjohnsriverkeeper.org for more information. This year, Peter’s original sold for $1000 at the silent auction, helping to support this great organization. Pictured with Peter are Barbara Jackson, a member of the Riverkeeper and Gary Mack, a local Jacksonville artist and friend of Peter’s. Photo courtesy of Steph Owens, also of Jacksonville who’s photography website can be viewed at www.stephowens.com .

The most recent painting to come out of  the studio is a 24×36 oil/canvas titled “Deep View Florida” which is now available. Please contact the Studio for more information. Commissions always welcome!

It was River Awarness Day at Wekiva Island www.wekivaisland with a river clean up organized early in the day and festivities at the Island after that. Peter met up with fellow artist Karen Harrod for an afternoon of painting as the participants strolled past so they could promote the Wekiva Paint Out www.wekivapaintout.com coming up in early 2012.

Peter was recently asked to produce a painting to help raise money for this years Canine Companions for Indpendence’s fundraising auction in Orlando, Florida www.cci.org. To incorporate a dog into his signature landscape, Peter came up with the concept of illustrating the way that dogs and humans first came together thousands of years ago. The image depicts a wolf approaching a group of early humans as they roast meat for their evening meal. The scene was meant to suggest the first timid visits by forest wolves, which later became man’s fundamental companions.

Joining members of the Audubon Society at the recent Wekiva Island painting demonstration were several artists and art enthusiasts from the surrounding area. Several interesting bird sightings occured during the event as well as a visit from a residient deer. - Photos Nancy Keating

Taking inspiration directly from nature, Peter was recently working from the deck of a boat deep within the Wekiva River basin. Each year, the Wekiva Isand hosts the eventful Wekiva Paint Out www.wekivapaintout.com where about thirty artist gather together for a week of painting to benifit the Wekiva Wilderness Trust and other conservation groups such as Friends of the Wekiva.

On Friday, October 14th at 9:30am Peter will be doing a painting demonstration for the Central Florida Audubon Society field trip http://fl.audubon.org  based on his ”Nature inspired Art”. The event will be held at the Wekiva Island www.wekivaisland.com and all are welcome to attend. The Island has canoe rentals as well as riverside seating in a relaxed atmosphere and is home to the annual Wekiva Paintout, which Peter has participated in since it’s first year.

Wanted to throw this up for fun. My pal Larry Moore and I went surfing this week in Cocoa Beach and had a great time of it. This was a good year for waves, with the hurricanes which swept past Florida creating the late summer swells. September is a time where the crowds are gone and the water is warm and life, as an artist/surfer in Florida isn’t all that bad. Please check out Larry’s site at www.larrymoorestudios.com and if you’re looking for a great Plein Air artist to take a workshop with, I would highly recommend checking out his schedule.  -Peter

Once again, one of Peter’s original oil paintings will be used to raise funding for the St. Johns Riverkeeper orgainization. The Riverkeeper is a multi-level task group aimed at keeping the St. Johns river healthy and pristine. Please visit their website at www.stjohnsriverkeeper.org to learn more. The painting, titled “Primal River” will be made available during a silent auction at the organizations 10th annual Oyseter Roast in Jacksonville, FL on November 18th.  Tickets available at their website.