About Peter Gaskin

My art seeks to stir emotions - to reflect on and convey something of the joy of being ... what it is to be alive - to be human - acknowledge our many connections with each other and with life around us. I love our human story and the story of our pale blue dot of a planet - love how insignificant we all are and yet how we can find beauty and meaning in life. 

I use a lot of texture and mainly work in acrylic though also occasionally oils and watercolour. 

My educational background is Environmental Science & Anthropology (BSc Hons) and those interests still excite me and to a great extent remain the primary focus of my work. 

I am a secular humanist and seek to portray elements of what that means in my art - a sort of secular positivity. I also conduct Humanist ceremonies - for weddings, namings and funerals and offer non-religious pastoral support so do get significant insight into different lives and thoughts from that perspective. 

After many years working in different industrial and professional sectors - private, public and charitable I now earn a living through art and my work as a celebrant. 

Major influences include the art of Munch, Klimt, Waterhouse  amongst others and a significant  influence has been the sculptor Gustav Vigeland following a visit to Oslo in 2014. I love the wide variety of styles evident in modern art from photo realism to abstract work and how they touch us in different ways. I am also fascinated at how different people see differently, think differently, play and react differently.