Artist Pete the Street spends hours standing by his easel, capturing Glasgow’s rain-soaked pavements, derelict schools and half-forgotten corners most people pass without a second glance.
Painter Pete Brown from Bath who has developed a love affair with Glasgow after being asked to paint the Duke of Wellington statue by Banksy.
An Artist commissioned by Banksy to paint Glasgow’s famous traffic cone-adorned Duke of Wellington statue has told how the experience sparked an obsession with recreating the city.
While graffiti legend Banksy is his biggest fan, Pete Brown works on canvas with every drop of paint carefully considered and brushstroke precisely placed.
Known to his online followers as Pete the Street, the Bath-based artist spends hours standing by his easel, capturing Glasgow’s rain-soaked pavements, derelict schools and half-forgotten corners most people pass without a second glance.
He said: “I just wander, I don’t really plan it. I stand somewhere long enough and the place starts to reveal itself.”
Pete, 58, first came to Glasgow during lockdown, driving through the city on a family staycation.
His initial impression stayed with him and was later reignited when Banksy commissioned him to paint his “favourite work of art in the UK” – the Duke of Wellington statue outside the Gallery of Modern Art, traffic cone and all.
The famously secretive Banksy did not phone Pete or meet him in person when commissioning work for his 2023 Cut & Run exhibition in Glasgow. He sent a letter.
Pete said: “That was the hook. After that, I just wanted to discover the city properly.”
For two years, Pete has driven from Bath to Glasgow every other week in his VW van, working his way from the Merchant City to the Gorbals and beyond.
With 40 paintings, complete, he is aiming for 75.
But he admitted: “You could paint one street forever. I could do a whole exhibition on a single corner.”
He doesn’t paint from photos. It’s all done on location, often over long days in difficult conditions. He said: “Painting from life matters. Photos aren’t reality, they freeze things. Life is blurred, moving, imperfect. That’s what I want.”
Standing on the street invites conversation in Glasgow. Rain is welcome but wind is not.
He said: “Wind is a nightmare. Absolute chaos. But rain? Wet pavements, reflections, that’s when it gets interesting.”
He added: “You can’t stand still for five minutes without someone talking to you.
“People tell you stories, bits of history. It’s brilliant. In London, you could walk all day and no one would speak to you. It’s my happy place. You’re completely focused.”
Brown describes his style as British Impressionism, though he resists labels.
He added: “I don’t really call myself an artist. I’m a painter. I saw something I liked, so I painted it. The job is finding beauty where people don’t expect it.”
Later this year his Glasgow work will be collected into a book and exhibition, a tribute to a city rewarding those who “stop and look”.
