Peter Messer for Art on a Ukulele
Peter Messer studied Fine Art at the University of Brighton and has been a regular exhibitor at the RA Summer Exhibition. Peter lives and works in Lewes, East Sussex and has paintings in collections in Belgium, France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Sweden and the US, as well as the UK. In 2007 he published a book “On The Way To Work. The Lewes Paintings Of Peter Messer”. He regularly gives talks about his very personal approach to painting (for an example, see Elsewhere and Otherwise, a talk filmed in 2014 during an exhibition of his work at the Hop Gallery in Lewes). In the course of this year, his work is being exhibited at several galleries, both locally in Lewes and in London.
He works mainly in egg tempera- not to be confused with the deep fried Japanese dish- egg tempera is the historic medium of mixing egg yolk and raw pigment to create an oil-based paint that can be thinned with water but that dries very quickly. Peter has assured his viewers in the past that ‘no it doesn’t go ‘off’ and no, I don’t eat lots of meringues’. The outcome of this lengthy process is that the artist creates a strong bond with the materials and process of painting as much as the painting itself. In a world where everything we consume is fast and mass-produced, Peter's beautiful work is refreshingly subtle, still and sensory. His paintings provide much needed space to breathe, to get lost in and to reflect.
We are very excited to reveal Peter Messer's Uke! Peter's works are a labour of love, and his design on this Uke is no different. We love the trademark earthy colours, and imagery that reveals a scene of a celebration of music itself. On this piece, Messer said 'the piece was inspired by a recent visit to the Prado to see Hieronymous Bosch.' You can see this influence in the disjointed shapes, earthy tones and the beasty creatures. This is truly a beautiful piece of work and we can't wait to see it played next month. To buy tickets to see this uke get played by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain along with 27 others designed by Peter's contemporaries, go to http://bit.ly/2qTFR0O.
