Approach

In Peter Jr’s own words:

Lifelong Exploration

My work reflects a lifelong engagement with art, beginning with early sketches of the rocky coastline in Maine and continuing through decades of writing, painting, and experimentation.

I don’t approach art through a single defined method. Instead, my work evolves through a cross-fertilization of influences—from abstract expressionism to ancient Greek figures to primitive and symbolic forms.

Experimentation & Intuition

At the core of my approach is experimentation. The act of making art is not fixed but unfolds through trial and error, intuition, and ongoing adjustment.

Each painting develops differently, shaped by both intention and discovery. The process is as much about exploration as it is about execution.

Between Intention and Outcome

What interests me most is the space between expectation and result. A painting may begin with a direction, but as it develops, it often moves beyond that initial idea.

In this in-between stage, the work begins to reveal its own possibilities, and the artist must remain open to what is emerging.

Risk and Evolution

There is always an element of risk—whether in form, color, or subject. Decisions are not fixed in advance but respond to what the work demands in the moment.

Forms shift. Subjects evolve. The work moves through uncertainty toward something more resolved.

Control and Spontaneity

For me, the result is rarely exactly what I envisioned at the start. Craft and experience provide a foundation, but the work ultimately emerges through a balance between control and spontaneity.

That tension is where the energy of the work exists.

Letting the Work Lead

At times, the painting seems to lead the process, revealing possibilities that were not initially apparent.

In that sense, the work becomes a dialogue—between intention and intuition, structure and freedom, expectation and discovery.

Sometimes, the painting knows more than the artist what it wants to become.