Peter Smith (painter)


Peter Smith is a contemporary British artist.
The subject for which he is most well known is a striped rotund creature with the form of a hippopotamus but the stripes of a zebra, which are known as 'Zeppos' or 'Impossimals'.
Smith is a self-taught artist who in 2005 contributed an artwork to the BBC's "Children in Need". He became professional, teaming-up with Washington Green Fine Art Publishing.

2005

In May 2005 he released his first Washington Green collection "The Art of Surprise", containing eight limited edition prints:
In June four further prints were released as part of the summer release:
July saw the release of one print as part of an MBNA Credit Card Special entitled ""Love Is All Around You"
September saw the release of two more prints on general release: "Love Boat" and "Tunnel of Love"
November saw the release of the final print of the year as a Christmas release, "Is That It?"
In total 16 different prints were released in 2005.

2006

2006 saw 21 different prints released, making it his most prolific year of released works
February 2006 saw the release of "Tails of the Unexpected", a collection of eight prints:
Between March and November a further eight prints were released on general release:
June 2006 saw the release of five World Cup themed prints collectively called "Smithy's World Cup Heroes"
Across 2007 six general release prints were released
There were a total of 17 releases across 2008, starting in January with two Valentine releases entitled "Love Actually" and "Be Mine"
February/September were again the release months for a series of general releases:
A new collection "*May Contain Nuts" was also released in September, containing 7 prints:
As with the previous two years, general releases were made in February and September. This time a total of twelve general release prints:
In a change from previous years, general releases were made in February and June :
September saw the release of a new seven piece collection entitled "It's A Stripe Thing"
Additionally, a sculpture was released for the first time entitled "Naughty Step", based on the print of the same name from 2008.
In 2010 Smith took part in London's Elephant Parade, creating an 'Impossimal' version of a baby elephant named an "Impossiphant".

2011

In a return to the previously common format, 2011 saw a total of eleven general release prints, occurring in February and September:
November saw the release of a Christmas print entitled "The Snuggler"

2012

2012 was Smith's least prolific years to date for the traditional Impossimals, seeing the release of only four general release prints, all in September:
In 2012 Smith unveiled a new set of characters entitled "Lost Impossimals". Each image is hand built as a living scene in a studio before being transformed to canvas, in a process taking around eight weeks in total.
According to Smith the Lost Impossimal series is: "A bewitching bewilderment of Impossimal creation with wondrous tales of weird woes and made up memories twisted with history, all based around the notes and diaries of a fictitious and intrepid Victorian explorer called Charles Burroughs."

2013

In February "All 4 Love" a collection of four prints was released:
Additionally two general release prints were issued: "Cake O'Clock", and "Meet The Family"

2014

Ten new general release prints were issued in 2014, once again in February and September:
Three new sculptures were also released matching three of these prints: "Super Scooper", "99 Problems", and "Rub-A-Dub Tub"

2015

The Spring Collection saw the release of five prints:
2015 saw the release of Lost Alice, a highly collectable and award-winning series of ongoing paintings, limited editions, sculptures and a rather unusual book called 'Lost Alice & Other Tall Stories'. The Lost Alice series is also credited as "by Peter & Jayne Smith"

2016

February saw the release of three prints as part of the "Spring Collection"; "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This", "You Are Fab", and "Donut Worry, Be Happy"
In September a new seven print collection "A Cup of Team and a Slice of Bake" was issued following a biscuit/cake theme:
This series is the first to exclusively use canvas on board as the medium.

2017

February, June, and September saw three different collections released, with no prints released under a "general release" banner.

February – "Showstopper Collection"

January 2018 saw the return of a Valentine's release, "The Colour of Love"
In February the follow up to "You're Screwballed" was released, entitled "Screwballed Too", containing four prints, and two sculptures:
On 6 September 2018, a new four print collection "Sotally Tober" was released: