Peter Geen

New Zealand landscape painter

I was born in Nelson, New Zealand in 1955 to a very ‘close-knit’ and loving family, and now feel very privileged to have had the opportunities and experiences they offered me during my childhood. Their influence has stayed with me throughout my life.

Early Influences

the smell of oils and thinners, brushes and uncompleted paintings…

Alan Crombie, the father of two close school friends, also had an influence on me. Alan was an impressionist/realist landscape painter and an amazing colourist who worked in his studio at home and sold through dealer galleries, with a small studio gallery at his residence. I’ll never forget the intense sense of pleasure and adventure I had when I was invited into his studio. The memories are still with me. The smell of oils and thinners, brushes, uncompleted paintings up against the wall, warm sunlight streaming in the window and of course, the highlight of seeing the work in progress.

As any artist will tell you, their studio is a very sacred place and it is considered an honour to be invited in. Until meeting Alan and his family, my painting had been restricted to small water-colours in my spare time, and now at the age of 16, I realised my destiny… I wanted to paint full-time!

I thoroughly enjoyed art at school. It was a subject I excelled in. I will never forget a comment my 5th form art teacher made when I was painting the colour wheel. He said, “I had a flawless sense of tonal values.” This relatively insignificant comment had a profound effect on my future.

My Journey Begins

So with my mind made up to one day becoming a full-time landscape painter the journey of learning and developing the necessary skills began. To apply paint to canvas is one thing, but to apply paint in such a way that it includes a sense of light, colour, tonal harmony, and luminosity, keeping in mind composition and design, and the all important ‘sense of place’, was another. The lessons were hard! I worked during the day and painted half the night. I had several exhibitions in Nelson over the next few years, with my 1980 exhibition, being a sell out.

Desolate Landscapes and Skies

In 1982 I left New Zealand with a desire to paint the vast, arid landscapes of Queensland and the Northern Territory. This wasn’t my first trip to Australia but I knew in my heart that this trip was going to be different from previous ones I had made. The first thing I needed to do was to buy a van, which I could convert to accommodation and studio, all in one. The plan was to paint my away around Australia. A VW Kombie was just the thing.

Within a very short time I met Kerry, a fellow kiwi, who was cycling up the east coast of Australia and who was delighted to trade her bike in for an easier mode of travel. She was to become my future wife.

I loved painting in Australia. The desolate landscapes and skies that went on forever, really did appeal to me. I mainly exhibited in Brisbane, Toowoomba and on the Granite Belt.

We now have four children Lehia the eldest, Alissa (our angel), Kyla, and Kristin our son. I painted and exhibited for several more years in Australia, before the demands of developing three horticultural properties and raising a young family took precedence over my paints and easel.

Living the Dream

In 1994 my family and I returned to New Zealand and I painted when I could; further developing skills and honing techniques. In 2000 my father-in law built me a small gallery on our sub-tropical orchard in Golden Bay and I sold my paintings during the summer period - EarthSea Gallery was conceived.

As demand for my work grew, we decided to sell the orchard and build a new home and Studio/Gallery in Clifton, Golden Bay. I was finally ‘living the dream’ I had when I left school, and was now painting full-time and supporting my family!

Over the past six years, EarthSea Gallery has developed and matured in ways that only painting full-time can allow. I use realism to capture ‘what I see’ on canvas, so the viewer has a sense of ‘actually being there’. It is when they feel the sand beneath their feet and taste the salt on their lips, that I feel they truly connect with my painting.

Most sales occur when a painting ‘touches the heart’ of the purchaser invoking a special memory or a feeling of well-being. I love more than anything to paint the mountains and the sea, and our natural environment free from man-made modifications.

Despite selling hundreds of paintings over the past 35 years, I am still incredibly honoured when someone purchases one my paintings.