Peter Corr providing a guide to a joint exhibition of artwork with his daughter Louisa Corr at The Old Fire Engine House in Ely

I returned to the Edinburgh Art Fair in November 2023, showing a selection of forest paintings with Linton 59. Edinburgh is always a serious context for contemporary work — the audience is engaged and the standard of exhibiting galleries is high.

For centuries, the death of painting has been proclaimed. Since the invention of printing during the Han dynasty, artists have anxiously watched each new technological advancement. When the printing press emerged, artists had valid concerns, but they eventually leveraged mechanical reproduction to replicate their work and reach a broader audience. With photography's arrival, it became clear that the representation of reality could be handed over to an optical device capable o

How to be creative with oil paint and cold wax. Using Jeff Becks guitar playing for inspiration

Many artists will tell you that painting is a constant struggle — a battle with materials and ideas. To make paint say what you want to communicate is a never-ending challenge; it requires commitment, resolution, and self-belief, and paradoxically, a measure of delusional thinking. The tortured artist, working against impossible odds to release an inner creative spirit, is the stuff of folk legend. If the objective of personal expression could be readily achieved, a single pa

Cold wax landscape painting techniques

This can't possibly be one of my paintings — or so you might think. Where is the impasto, the heavy texture and mark-making, the lively handling of paint that characterises my usual way of working? This was, in fact, my style some two decades ago. Whilst clearing a working space in my garage recently, I came across a large MDF board sandwiched between a couple of old doors and dismantled bunk beds. It was covered in dust and cobwebs, and I thought it might serve as a makeshif

I was recently contacted by a book publisher looking for a suitable image for the front cover of a new title. He was searching for something dark and mysterious to represent the Fenlands — and had come across my photography project completed during the lockdown period. 'Cambridgeshire Fenlands' Photography by: Peter Corr The Fenland Photography Project Followers of this blog may recall the project I completed during lockdown: a series of black and white photographs of the Cam

I have always considered Cubism to be the key movement in the development of contemporary art — the ultimate catalyst, a clean break with tradition and a revolutionary way of seeing, interpreting, and reconstructing the material world through painting. After Cubism, there could be no return to the false comforts and certainties of representational painting. It fatally undermined conventional ways of recording what we see. For the first time, the supremacy of Renaissance persp

I always return to the forest as a subject for painting. It is a source of limitless fascination and inspiration. I create these forest paintings primarily from memory. I do have photographs taken at various locations, but I rarely use them to complete a painting. They may offer a starting point, a way of seeing, or a particular quality of light — but ultimately a painting has to work on its own terms. Effective paintings have a convincing internal character and consistency.

This work represents something of a departure. It is a graphic rendering of a winter tree, with a pronounced emphasis on drawing and linear qualities — a shift from the more atmospheric landscape work that typically occupies my practice. The painting uses oil, cold wax, bitumen, pumice stone powder, and enamel on an 80 × 80 cm canvas. 'The Dream of a Golden Tree' Oil, Cold Wax, bitumen, pumice stone, enamel on 80 x 80 cm Canvas Materials and Process The general process is re

This painting was seen in my ‘Cambridge Envisaged’ exhibition in autumn of 2016 in the centre of Cambridge University.

Creating art is a fundamental part of my identity and a way for me to express my emotions and thoughts. When I make images, I feel like I’m connecting with something deeper. This process feels like a journey, where each brushstroke or pencil mark leads to new insights and understandings. Art helps me capture the complexities of life—its beauty, chaos, and mysteries. Each piece I create represents a specific moment, emotion, or idea that interests me. Making art isn't just abo

'One Hundred Years of Solitude' 150 x 100 cm Oil on Canvas

' The Archaeology of Thought' Oil and cold wax 60 x 60 cm

Borderlands. An abstract Landscape painting by Peter Corr. See his work at the Battersea Affordable Art Fair 21 - 24 October 21

‘High White Fen’ 80 x 40 on Cradled Board (Detail ‘High White Fen’) Detail ‘ High White Fen’ If someone told you that a painting of a...

‘Westmoor’ 100 x 150 x 4cm ‘Westmoor’ (Detail) The Fens around Ely come to life with colour at this time of year. The intense yellow...

Fields, Rivers and Dreams — The Fenland Landscape from Above Seen from above, the Cambridgeshire Fenlands reveal a geometry that is invisible at ground level. The dykes and drains run in straight lines across the flat terrain, dividing the land into rectangles and parallelograms of varying colour and texture. The rivers wind between them, their curves a counterpoint to the rigidity of the drainage system. From the air, the Fens look like a vast, abstract painting — a composit

‘Elasticity’ Umberto Boccioini Museo del Novecento ‘Elasticity’ Umberto Boccioini Museo del Novecento It would be a minor miracle to...