Peter Tobias

History

My sister, older brother, twin brother and I were raised in the eucalyptus, redwood and oak-covered hills of Berkeley and Orinda, California. I studied political science and film and worked as a photographer while at UCLA. Following college, I wrote screenplays, made films, got married and my wife and I moved to foggy San Francisco and gave birth to twin boys. It was during the long baby-watches through the night that I began painting this latest series. The twins’ birth helped thematically as I loved and endured the “miracle of birth,” which is quite a messy thing. Also, in contrast, my father and older brother’s death would never allow them to help with the babysitting.  

Chaos

My boys occasionally assist with painter’s block. I love their chaotic application of paint, introducing wild corridors to explore. Then begins the fun journey of wrangling their chaos, inch by inch, until the painting evolves into something meaningful. For me, this collaboration epitomizes the adventure of painting: making sense out of chaos.  

Sense

This series of paintings was influenced by William Turner’s techniques of impasto, scumbling, glazing and his exploration of light. Each painting has multiple layers that will recreate the image in various lighting conditions. My attempt was to give each painting a life of its own that will grow and change over the course of the day. Each light source creates new universes in which the imagination can get lost.