Level Best Art Trainees Owen, Claire & Niamh in conversation with our current exhibiting artist Peter Porteous Butler, supported by staff member Megan. 

Owen: How long have you been making art?

Peter: Since school, I realised I liked drawing, and I enjoyed painting back then too. I went into graphic design for work, but in 2018, I got tired of computers and wanted to get back to making things with my hands – so I got back into art – I went to Drink & Draw Colchester and started making ink drawings, then I got into oil painting.

Owen: What’s your favourite way to paint?

Peter: I’m doing lots of oil painting, even though it takes a long time. You must wait for it to dry, and it’s messy. It’s a real commitment, but it’s magic when colours blend.

Claire: I’m more into drawing, but I don’t mind painting – Ever since I was a child, I didn’t like the mess!

Peter: I also like ink drawing because it’s quicker, you can just do it at home, and you can fit it into everyday life a bit better.

Owen: I like painting Marvel characters, and I like performance art. I’m addicted to music, pop, Disney songs and hip hop.

Niamh: I like working with acrylic paints.

Owen: I really like this painting of the pier; can you tell us the story behind it?

Peter: I knew it was going to be a nice night, and I wanted to go down to the Ha’penny Pier in Harwich to photograph the reflections of the container port on the water. I saw the couple walking on the pier, I thought it was quite romantic, and I wondered what they were talking about.

Megan: Did you talk to the couple?

Peter: No! I was too shy!

Claire: My favourite is the very orangey sky landscape, where is that?

Peter: That’s Gosbecks Archaeological Park, to the west of Colchester. I used to live nearby, and I’ve walked there a lot, especially during the Covid lockdowns. There are big skies there.

Niamh: How long did the largest oil painting take?

Peter: I did it in three sessions of about two or three hours at a time, so around eight hours. That one was based on a photograph I took on one of my favourite walks, from Thorrington Creek to Wivenhoe.

Niamh: I like the colours in it.

Megan: It’s very calming.

Peter: I was very calm when I was there and when I was painting, so that is reflected in the painting.

Claire: The one with the moon is very moody and dark. I like it.

Peter: That’s my favourite place in the world, it’s the deepest lake in the country, somewhere I used to visit with my Mum. She took a stunning photo of the moon, and I turned it into a painting.

Owen: I like the darkness.

Peter: This one is like Marmite, people either like it or hate it. Some people say it’s too dark.

Megan: It’s divisive.

Owen: Who are your favourite artists?

Peter: I love the paintings of Van Gogh – I know everyone always chooses him, but there is a particular painting of his of a hospital that I saw once, and it moved me to tears – I’d never had that experience with a piece of art before.

Megan: I always think it sounds too easy to choose someone so famous, too, but I genuinely love some of Picasso’s work.

Owen: I really like Marvel heroes.

Niamh: My favourite artist is Beatrix Potter.

Peter: I love her illustrations. I also love Herge, who was the illustrator behind Tintin. Seeing his work is what inspired me to start drawing. He has a very distinct style.

Claire: Like Quentin Blake, I saw some greetings cards in a garden centre recently, and I knew they were by him.

Megan: You know they are a good artist when you can instantly recognise their work.

Owen: What is your favourite music?

Peter: It depends on my mood, but I like to listen to Nickel Creek, Sufjan Stevens, Radiohead, Waterboys and The Kinks.

Owen: I like Eminem, and I like Justin Bieber – he has banging songs.

Niamh: I like pop music.

Claire: I like classic rock and lots of different bands.

Megan: I used to be quite narrow in my music tastes, but now I like a bit of everything.

Peter: Yes, I also like any good music, and I particularly like to listen to live music.

Megan: Do you listen to music when you work, or do you sit in silence?

Peter: I listen to podcasts, music, and sometimes the football. Music is very important to me. I’m also a musician.

Megan: I think whatever you listen to while you are creating can influence your art. In the art studio, sometimes we listen to slow music to calm us down, or fast music to excite.

Claire: I hadn’t thought about it that way.

Peter: When I was making my pictures about music and musicians, I listened to a lot of bluegrass turned up very loud to give the work energy and movement.

Owen: How many pictures have you sold?

Peter: I think I’ve sold about half of my artworks that I’ve ever made. It’s nice, but I’m not in it to make lots of money – I just like that people have my art on their walls. It’s also nice to just put it all up on exhibition and take stock of what has been successful. So, it’s not all about selling. I knew when I painted my Mum playing the piano on the beach, I would never sell it, and it will remain in my family.

Megan: That one clearly has precious memories.

Peter: Yes, my Mum died suddenly around Christmas time, and this scene was fresh in my memory. I think this day was the last time I heard her play. She was laughing; it was a happy day.

Claire: Was there really a piano on the beach?

Peter: Yes, someone had put it there on Harwich beach; it was quite surreal, I think it was part of a festival.

Peter Porteous Butler’s exhibition “Local Illumination” is open Monday to Friday until 25th June 2026 at Level Best Gallery.

A popular Colchester guide is remembered in a painting. Local artist Peter Porteous-Butler has created a very personal work featuring his late mother, Barbara Butler, who sadly died suddenly just before Christmas. Barbara was very well known around Colchester as a tour guide and local history expert. He says, “I was inspired to do this work for a recent art show at Artsy Image Gallery, titled ‘the things we learned to ignore’. The work captures a moment from a few years ago when mum played an old piano that was installed on the beach at Harwich. At the time, when I snapped the photo, I hadn’t realised it would be the last time I would hear her play – she used to play ragtime tunes quite a lot when I was young. To me, the whole scene captured the wonderful eccentricity and joy that my mum exuded, and now in this picture she can be playing on happily for evermore.” The painting is on display at Level Best gallery in St John’s Street, Colchester, until 26th June, alongside more of Peter’s work featuring many familiar local scenes.