Artist's Statement

My name is Edward Peterson. I am a self-taught artist and have been creating art for over 23 years. After graduating from the University of Nevada, Reno with a biology degree, I decided to devote my time to art. I began creating children’s book cartoon characters. Not having any painting background, I investigated many methods and styles of illustration. I was particularly attracted to the versatility of the airbrush. My children’s book projects are a work in progress and are about the adventures of Groovin Melvin, pictured above.

When I am not working on my book project, I enjoy painting abstract and dimensional artwork. I like to use humor, lots of color, texture and depth in my work. Surfaces I enjoy painting on include illustration board, canvas, wood, metal and paper.

I also enjoy painting with oil. Paint is layered on thick and I enjoy the textures and color ranges you can obtain with oil. The oil pieces produced undergo a year- long process as Drying times are extensive. Due to health issues incurred by extensive exposure to paint products I am turning more to very detailed and technical pen and ink illustrations. These are very labor intensive projects, but are my favorite to accomplish.

I frame all my artwork. I have been framing for 22 years and have worked for high-end galleries as well as having my own professional studio for 12 years. I pride myself on using the very top-end archival products and archival methods in my framing.

Ed Peterson