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Craig Peck
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Biography
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Born and bred in Cape Town, South Africa, I had a very stable and secure upbringing. I was not a fan of school, but made it my pledge to do as much as I could do, to be able to select my University and course to study. That is the fortunate freedom that education offers one and even today, I value my choices and opportunities greatly.
I went on to obtain a B.Med.Sc. degree (a four-year Honours degree in Medical Sciences; majoring in Medical Physiology and Medical Virology, completing Physiology with Cum Laude) and a B.Ch.D. degree in Dental Surgery, both from Stellenbosch University. My University years were awesome and taught me what I can achieve with proper, directed learning and understanding and it is here that I started to see the tremendous power that education can afford one, because it can never to taken away once earned. It gives one freedom and access to opportunities that would not have existed without it, thereby allowing for informed and wise decisions that hold accountability and responsibility for which one is not scared of. Education also ensures good social mixing and subconsciously enforces a higher degree of acceptance of others, especially of minority groups, mainly because of the intra-group bonds within one University and the feeling of belonging to a common family.
After graduating in 1997, I left for London and practised as a Dental Surgeon in two practises in West London for a period of eight years. London is a great city and taught me a great deal about myself and it was here that I started working at the person and clinician I wanted to be, gradually developing a strong sense of need for compassionate and effective dental treatment for patients with dental fears and phobias.
After travelling regularly to most of Europe, extensively within the UK and to the USA, I felt that it was time to return home for good (which I did in 2004). I continued in my quest of life and decided to take an hiatus from clinical practise and develop my business skills a bit better. Being co-owner of two companies while being home and selling them both, has taught me a great deal of important facts about what to do and what not to do. Sadly, business studies are not included in the University curriculum!
On selling the second of the two companies early in 2012, I decided to take some time out and consider "where to from here", with the constant void in my life since hanging up my dental drill and mirror and being absent from academic life for so long. To help me get perspective on this and open my thoughts in a serene and logical manner, I took to abstract painting.
I paint in acrylic, on blocked canvas and hard-board, sometimes in mixed-mediums with elements of texture to enhance the sense of tactility for the piece and bring out the realism of the message behind the art. Over the past two years I have being dedicated to improving my technique and trying new ideas, so that I do not stagnate in one direction, thereby keeping my ideas new and fresh and always challenging.
When I look at each piece I have painted, I see and can feel the emotions that I had when painting it originally and the history of the past becomes captured in that painting, each with their own story and tale to tell. I have no formal art training, never attended an art study class or group and didn't even do art as a school subject - but I wish now that I had, because there are so many principles and guidelines that assist one in creating the "perfect piece" and these I am only learning and experiencing now, by self-study. I suppose it's a way for me to stay somehow connected to the academic side of myself, searching for that emotional and mental tingle that one experiences when opening a textbook, practically smelling the decades of research and struggle that lies behind every letter on the page.
But what art has also given me, is the belief that I am more creative than I once thought and I have only now achieved a sense that my work is acceptable and desired by others, which motivates and propels me further along this facinating path of discovery that I find myself on. I do not think that I could ever continue my life as I did before, without being able to express my emotions and give my thoughts a place to finally rest, as I do now with each painting that I do. It has become such a useful vent that is both calming and spititually uplifting, with a great sense of accomplishment on completion and I cannot see how I coped before - or did I?
With some vocational options in the pipeline, some in the dental field and some in business, my head seems more able to cope with the next phase of my life and I have comfort in the fact that at the end of a long, busy day, I can come home, pick up my brush and my mind will unload itself while I relax with a glass of Chardonnay or Cabernet and the end result would be an amalgamation of who I am and how the universe impacted on me throughout my day. Then tomorrow doesn't seem as bad...
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Statement
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I have always appreciated art - mainly as a method of visual relaxation and mood enhancement, but never thought that one day I might be creating art that would have the same effect on others. The reward is the satisfaction that others experience when they view my work and it is fascinating getting the various interpretations of a painting from others, before they know the story behind the art. The human mind is truly a wonderfully complex and mystifying organ and should always be respected as such!
Having only been painting now for two-or-so years and without any form of structured or formal tuition in the arts, I cannot baffle your minds with paragraphs of decriptive jargon, filled with art cliche's and suggestive anecdotes that are meant to boast my painting into rhelms they were never intended for. Quite simply put, I paint as real as the person I am today. I use elements of texture from a variety of sources and mediums to emphasise the reality and tactility of the painting, as well as to enhance any aspect that I feel needs special focus in order to get the story across to the onlooker. I paint in colours I enjoy most, not being afraid of the bold and unexpected, sometimes with a humorous, tongue-in-cheek undercurrent and sometimes with a more sombre tale to tell. I do not have a preference as to the size of the piece and find one can often pack as much detail and story into a painting that is 15 x 15 (cm's), as one can into a larger piece of 2m x 1.5m. The rasionale and concern is not so much the size, but the planning of the painting that is a key factor, so that an acurate illustration of the story emerges through the acrylic, finding life and belief in the eyes of the onlooker. Then beauty has been created for them and an emotional bond is formed, either by reflecting on the past or in the hope of the future, making that painting an indication of the desire of man to want to believe in the immortality of the human soul - a kind of continuous pathway of enjoyment that will continue even after the original owner passes - but will be carried on to friends and family, who serve to continue the story that I initiated by dipping my brush in the acrylic years before. And even though the story changes, that is not important. What is important is that the story never dies and continues along its path of discovery, meeting with new people and having a positive impact on the lives of those who regard it enough to hang on the wall in their home. I thank each of you for doing this and feel humbled by you letting a part of me remain in your home and I hope that each painting brings you as much joy as it brought satisfaction to me in creating it. Even if you never get the story, but see the truth and beauty for which it was created for, that's good enough of a reason for me to let that become your story. Don't let the story die... God bless you all.
Dr Craig Peck
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Exhibitions
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