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Peter Bruce was born in Annan in the South West of Scotland and moved with his family to Naivasha, Kenya at the age of six. His father, being a Vet, and living on a Ranch in Kenya's Rift Valley, soon stimulated his interest in wildlife. By the time Peter was ten his interest in painting had taken a firm hold and he was always sketching or painting the African wildlife. At the age of fourteen he won first prize at the Royal Nairobi Show for a painting of a Kudu bull. His award winning art work started to be exhibited regularly during his school career.
As well as painting professionally since the early 1980’s, he was also the manager of a 120,000 acre private game reserve in Namibia, where he had the opportunity to work as well as hand-raise many species of wildlife, including Cheetah, Leopard, Caracal, Wilddog, Aardwolf, etc. This was a tremendous experience and privilege for the artist and his family. He was able to observe the animals at close quarters and study their habits in his home and in the wild. His work with these animals was a tremendous contribution toward the preservation of the endangered species of Namibia.
His art has been exhibited publicly and in private art shows in America, Namibia, South Africa, Britain, Kenya, Tanzania, and Germany. He also released four limited edition wildlife prints in the late 1980’s. During the 90’s his art was sold at the Christie's Annual Wildlife Exhibitions. In addition, he was commissioned to paint calendars for The Wildlife Society of Southern Africa for four consecutive years. He also produced a collection of five limited editions of “The Big Five” for a South African Bank.
In September of 2000 he left Namibia and moved back to Scotland, where he was Factor for a large Highland Estate. He enjoyed adding the local Scottish wildlife to his portfolio.
In 2007 he moved back to Tanzania, Africa, where he was the General Manager for a large Safari Company . During this time he also continued with his painting and currently has paintings on exhibit at The Cultural Heritage Centre in Arusha, Tanzania. He moved to the USA in 2010 and lives in Texas. Peter is now dedicating his talents to painting full time and currently exhibiting a limited number of pieces at Bee Street Studio, Dallas & Fort Worth , Texas.
The mediums he prefers are oils, gouache, pastel, and pencil. One of his additional talents is photography, and from his extensive collection of photos, he often references these resource materials, which enhances his paintings. His work is described as realism, as evidenced by the amount of detail in his paintings. Peter has recently completed several peices in a more contemporary style.
Because of his unique and diverse talents people often commission him to create a one of kind painting to commemorate their Safari experience. He has also has been commissioned to create portraits of their pets. Peter’'s paintings are available from his studio and the above mentioned galleries. Please contact him if you would like to buy or commission a painting.