'Round the next bend in the trail, over the next hill... seeking the quintessential elements of the "wild places" that I explore and love. Hailing from Oak Park, Illinois; raised in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, a love of horses and the west took Peet to Colorado as a child, and again in the early '60's. For over twenty-five years Peet has called the Colorado Rockies (Copper Mountain) and Tucson's Sonora Desert, home, different times of the year.
Many childhood summers were spent exploring the Chicago Art Institute and experiencing feature exhibits by Andrew Wyeth and Monet. Traveling to Paris offered the opportunity to further immerse Peet in the art of the Impressionists. The teeming color, energy and endless dance of light and atmosphere, remain today as vivid and enduring influences, likewise, the directness and spontaneity of the Plein Air movement in California and the West; the bold light, shadow and architectural form of Caravaggio and Carl Rungius; the fresh, fluid work of Russian-American Impressionist, Nicolai Fechin as well as contemporary painters Richard Schmid, Jim Reynolds, Oleg Stavrowsky and C. W. Mundy.
Seeking Wild Places
Whether a 5-day pack trip into Canyon de Chelly, AZ, or the Wind River Range, WY; hiking to timberline to capture a painting of late spring snow; braving the desert sun of Saguaro National Monument; or tucked out of the wind behind scraggly, alpine evergreen, high on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, the extraordinary diversity of terrain, climate, seasons and light of the Rockies and desert, provide never-ending sources of adventure and inspiration. And most recently... canoeing, kayaking, biking or hiking the Canadian Rockies, Alaska, Glacier National Park, California wine country and Sonoma Coast, and winter in Monument Valley offers stunning raw material for future paintings. "For me, these back country spaces are powerful, humbling, have such a sense of awe and deserve great respect. Along with light, mood and a strong sense of place, it is these feelings and experiences that I strive to capture in my work."