Renowned street artist Peter Brown, widely known as "Pete the Street," has released a new book titled "Bristol Paintings" featuring his artistic interpretations of the English city's landscapes and urban scenes. The 58-year-old artist, who has spent 32 years capturing cityscapes around the world including Bath, London, and New York, hopes his latest work will help readers both discover new locations and reconnect with familiar places throughout Bristol.
"I just hope that I've captured some sort of feeling of what it's actually like to live or be in Bristol," Brown explained. Interestingly, the artist only began exploring Bristol during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite having worked extensively in nearby Bath for decades. "That's the beauty of drawing and painting, it really helps you look and analyze stuff and then you really discover the area," he noted.
Brown's artistic journey began when he was approximately 15 years old, though he temporarily abandoned his passion after studying art in high school and college. His creative spark was reignited in 1993 when he moved to Bath for a foundation course. The city's inspiring atmosphere motivated him to resume drawing, and he soon began creating and selling his artwork on the streets.
Throughout his career, Brown has documented significant cultural moments and locations. His portfolio includes paintings of festival-goers at Glastonbury Festival, crowds mourning the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace, and public reactions to Banksy's Valentine's Day mascara artwork that appeared on a house in Kent. Despite his proximity to Bristol while working in Bath, it took "ages" for Brown to venture to the neighboring city with his art supplies. "I have no understanding why that is," he admitted.
Once Brown finally made the journey from Bath to Bristol, he described feeling "like a kid in a sweet shop." The experience proved transformative for the artist. "Painting Bristol was such an eye-opener for me," he said. "It's so different to Bath - Bath is a beautiful city, it's always been a city of leisure, but Bristol is an industrial city that's pulled in a huge, varied population."
The artist was particularly struck by Bristol's diverse landscape and urban character. "It's got an amazing landscape to it, the lumps and bumps and the gorge and all that," Brown observed. "There's some beautiful traffic scenes which I'm inspired by, but also it's nice painting the high streets and little residential areas and stuff like that." His book features various Bristol locations, including scenes from Beauley Road and Cliftonwood from Stackpool Road in Southville, as well as views of the Avon Gorge over Brunel Way.
Brown takes particular pride in feedback from local residents who feel he has accurately captured their city's essence. "The best compliment is when people say 'I've lived here all my life and you've captured it'," he remarked. Despite having already created enough work for a full book, Brown believes he has only "scratched the surface" of what Bristol has to offer and continues "discovering the city in bits" as he explores new areas and perspectives for future artwork.
