PETER LEWIS GALLERY

 

 

Blogs & Media Posts

The Peter Lewis Gallery and Destination St. John's have been partners for 15 years!

 

Destination St. John's is a non-profit organization in town. If you need help to plan your trips or explore St. John's, check out their website! - It is an incredible resource to find accommodations, Festivals & Events, Food & Drink, Activities & Tours, Entertainment & Nightlife, Arts & Culture, Shopping and more.

 

DESTINATION ST. JOHN'S WEBSITE

It has been 15 years since the Peter Lewis Gallery opened its doors for its first ever exhibition. On December 7, 2024, we decided to celebrate this with an Opening Reception. A selection of artists who have showcased their works since then participated in The 15th Year Anniversary Group Exhibition. 

 

The Opening Reception of the 15th Year Anniversary Exhibition was a great turn out. The Peter Lewis Gallery team is thankful for the support and presence of everyone who joined us at the Gallery on Saturday night. 

 

Participating Artists: Jeanette Jobson, Sarah Jane Conklin, Cam Forrester, Julie Duff, Greg Hargarten, Michael Greene, Loreta Hume, Ken Van Rees, Peter Ollerhead, Chris Lemaire, Susan Doyle and Madhav Chooromoney.

Newfoundland: A Plein Air Perspective is a solo exhibition which showcases 21 oil paintings done en Plein air of landscapes from several Newfoundland communities including Broad Cove, Rushoon, The Battery, Harbour Main, Middle Cove, Hibbs Cove, Holyrood, Trepassey, Upper Island Cove, St. Stephens, St. Lawrence, Chapel St, Prescott St, Tessier Place, Quidi Vidi, Rose Blanche, François, Leading Tickles & Margaree. 

 

These paintings were done en Plein air (outdoors) with a palette knife on Peter’s most recent painting trip across Newfoundland. According to him, painting en Plein air keeps you connected with nature and the beautiful weather outdoors. Most importantly, the purpose behind Peter’s Plein air paintings across Newfoundland is to keep the memories of small towns and the communities alive through his artworks. When people view this exhibition, they will get to know places in Newfoundland they never knew existed. It will surely inspire many to travel across the island. 

 

 It also comes with many beautiful experiences. When Peter was painting in St. Stephen’s, at that time there were no sheep, but the owner of the land was kind to open the gates to let the sheep in so he could paint them in. There is constant movement around the scenes he is painting. Sometimes people are walking by and most of the times they make it into his paintings.There is a painting of the view from Chapel Street, where a cyclist went down the streets and she is there in that painting and one at middle cove beach where there were kids playing around and one of them started painting with Peter. It is a wholesome experience for him to paint outdoors, get inspired and inspire others along the journey. When his paintings are complete, Peter is often in awe of the countless memories he has made with the people he met, landscapes he painted, and communities he visited.

 

Click to listen to Peter Speak about the Exhibition on CBC St. John's Morning Show.

 

Facebook Live: Virtual tour

It all started when Liam McErlean from Northern Ireland along with his wife Sandy (Peter’s Colleague), from NL, were intrigued when they saw Peter’s art and thought he would enjoy painting the landscapes of Ireland. Liam was convinced that Peter would do a fantastic job so he invited him to his home country in Northern Ireland. 

Peter was on deferred leave from teaching that year so he thought why not take advantage of it. He got the idea of painting Northern Ireland and exhibiting his works in Newfoundland, a place where many people have Irish connections. This led to several commissions! 

Soon after arriving in Northern Ireland, Liam’s brother, a jeweller from Randalstown, helped Peter get access to a delivery van to move around (See Images 2-3). At first, Peter thought it was a great idea for storing his materials and paintings but later realized he had to drive on the left side of the road with no back windshield and only side mirrors! He eventually got used to it. A few near misses but everyone survived! 

Peter drove to explore various locations of Northern Ireland such as Randalstown, Portrush, Derry, Ballycastle, Carnlough, Dublin, Belfast and several villages in Donegal. Liam was a host and guide for the first week of a 2 week trip. On this journey, Peter connected with a lot of people including a BBC reporter who did a radio story while he was painting in Downtown Newry. Being a teacher, he caught the attention of many children along the way too. He soon became the talk of the town as everyone wondered who the artist painting their town was! 

Peter Lewis ended up staying in Ireland for 3 weeks and produced a body of work before coming back to his hometown of St. Johns. In October 2009, there was a well received opening of the exhibition “Irish Connections” at the Peter Lewis Gallery.

 

 Newfoundland Author to Launch Debut Book, Art of Camouflage

 

[St. John’s Newfoundland] St. John’s-born writer Sara Power celebrates the launch of her debut book, Art of Camouflage, alongside writers Lisa Moore and Joel Thomas Hynes at the Peter Lewis Gallery at 5 Church Hill, St. John’s, on Thursday, July 11 at 7 pm. 

Titled “Small Acts of Mentorship,” the evening will include readings, conversations about writing and the short story, and about the importance of mentorship for emerging writers. All are welcome to attend. Books will be for sale and all three writers will be ready to sign!

Raised in Happy Valley - Goose Bay, Sara Power began writing and sending out stories for publication in 2011 after retiring from the Canadian Armed Forces. Her writing has appeared in literary journals across Canada, the US, and the UK, including the anthology Best Canadian Stories 2024. Her fiction has been awarded the Malahat Review Open Season Award, the Riddle Fence Fiction Prize, and was a finalist for the Toronto Star Short Story Contest, the New Quarterly Peter Hinchcliff Award, the Bath Short Story Award, and the RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award.

 

Lisa Moore’s books include Caught, February, Alligator, Open, Something for Everyone, and This is How We Love. She has been nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize three times: in 2002 for Open, in 2005 for Alligator and in 2013 for Caught. Moore’s first novel, Alligator (2005), also won the 2006 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best Book Award, Caribbean and Canada Region, and was longlisted for the 2007 International Dublin Literary Award.

 

Joel Thomas Hynes is a Canadian writer, actor and director known for his dark characters and vision of modern underground Canada. His 2017 novel We’ll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night won the Governor General’s Award for English-language Fiction and the Winterset Award, and was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. His debut novel Down to the Dirt won the Percy Janes First Novel Award, was shortlisted for the Atlantic Book Award and the Winterset Award, and was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award.

About Art of Camouflage

 

Female recruits weathering toxic masculine environments. Military wives stretched thin across countless military moves, new cities and new selves. Military kids whose mercurial friendships flare and fade to the rhythm of their parent’s career path. Throughout, this collection introduces us to characters who trespass beyond the boundaries of their own realities to discover who they are within someone else’s narrative.

When Peter Met Jennie Ryland

 

In this throwback blog, we are taking you back 15 Years ago, when Peter Lewis met Jennie Ryland for the first time in a place called Cortona, Italy located in beautiful Tuscany. Jennie is a watercolorist who used to live and paint in Tuscany.

On that day, Peter was painting in a small narrow street when Jennie spotted him. Being an artist herself, she pulled a chair and started chatting with him. 

As they were talking, Jennie asked Peter where he was from and when he said Newfoundland, her eyes lit up and she said “ Oh my god! My great grandfather is from Newfoundland!”.
“Oh! What’s his name?”, asked Peter to which she replied “Sir Marmaduke Winter”.
“My Dad’s best friend owns Winterholme which is the home that Sir Marmaduke built!”, Tracey added and they all laughed at this coincidence.

Jennie Ryland ended up taking Peter to beautiful spots around Cortona to paint. 

Later on, Jennie came to Newfoundland to paint and exhibited her artworks at the Peter Lewis Gallery. 

 

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PETER LEWIS: A PLEIN AIR ARTIST

 

T​ake a look at the world through Peter’s eyes. As a plein-artist, Peter paints in real time, capturing outdoor vistas uniquely composed, rich with colour and striking imagination. Drawn to scenery reminiscent of Newfoundland and Labrador, his work covers a diverse collection of regional and international settings. The resulting art​ ​is magical, with a true-to-life perspective of changing daylight on landscapes​​, distinctively interpreted by the artist.

 

 

 

CITTA DELLA PIEVE, ITALY

Peter Lewis working on a Plein-air painting in Città Della Pieve, a comune in the Province of Perugia in Umbria, Italy. 

 

 

BONAVISTA, NL

 

Peter Lewis painting in Bonavista, Newfoundland; a town and community on the Bonavista Peninsula, known for its history, cultural traditions and paint worthy views!

 

 

Peter Lewis on CTV in Ottawa

 

Watch an inspirational interview of Peter talking about his passion for Plein Air painting and his journey of 'living fully' with a genetic heart condition. More in the video..

 

 

 

 

Timelapse video of Peter working on a mural at the Carpenters Millwrights College in Newfoundland. The Idea was to represent the students and the college in the foreground and a stunning view of St John's in the background.

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