Welcome to
Peter Collins Printmaker

Born in Egypt in 1950, my early training was in architecture. The change from this world to gardening, albeit in the Oxford Botanic Gardens, did not end the search for a satisfying path in life and I found myself studying art part time at the City and Guilds School of Art in Kennington, London, while working at Kew Gardens.

Having found the Printmaking department, the future was decided. I continued to attend full time up to 1978, specialising in etching and copper engraving.

Copper engraving suits my love of plants, particularly orchids, while the endless possibilities of etching and aquaint allow a freer interpretation of nature.

After moving to Bath in 1978, I discovered wood engraving through the illustrator Peter Reddick at Bristol Polytechnic, a medium which is highly suited to atmospheric landscape subjects.

This and woodcut have been my main output since then, while pursuing a parallel career in garden design and gardening.

My subject matter ranges across plants and their historical setting, exotic insects, particularly butterflies and moths, Cornish churches, strangely shaped trees…. It’s the alchemy of turning drawing from nature into prints which fascinates.