About Peter Bruce

Peter Bruce was born in Annan in the south west of Scotland in 1949 and moved with his family to Naivasha, Kenya at the age of six. His father, being a vet, and living on a farm in Kenya’s Rift Valley soon stimulated his interest in wildlife. By the time Peter was ten his interest in painting had taken a firm hold and he was always sketching or painting the African wildlife. At the age of fourteen he won the first prize at the Royal Nairobi Show for his painting of a Kudu bull. His award winning art work started to be exhibited regularly during his school career.

As well as painting professionally since the early 1980’s, he was also the manager of a 120,000 acre private game reserve in Namibia, where he had the opportunity to work as well as hand-raise many species of wildlife including Cheetah, Leopard, Caracal, Wilddog, Aardwolf, etc. This was a tremendous experience and privilege for the artist and his family. He was able to observe the animals at close quarters and study their habits in his home and in the wild. His work with these animals was a tremendous contribution toward the preservation of the endangered species of Namibia.

His art has been exhibited publicly and in private art shows in America, Namibia, South Africa, Britain, Kenya, Tanzania, and Germany. He also released four limited edition wildlife prints in the late 1980’s. During the 90’s his art was sold at the Christies Annual Wildlife Exhibition. In addition, he was commissioned to paint calendars for The Wildlife Society of Southern Africa during four consecutive years. He also produced a collection of five limited editions of “The Big Five” for a South African Bank.

In September of 2000 he left Namibia and moved back to Scotland where he was a Factor a very large Highland Estate. He enjoyed adding the local Scottish wildlife to his portfolio of wildlife. However, in the futures, because of his affinity for Large Cats and Elephants he plans to take trips back to Africa to paint its many fascinating species.

For the last three years Peter was the General Manager for a large Safari Company in Tanzania. During this time he also continued with his painting. He currently has paintings on exhibit at The Cultural and Heritage Centre in Arusha, Tanzania.  This year he moved to Portland, Oregon. He is dedicating his talents to painting full time. He is currently exhibiting a limited number of pieces at the Russell Collection Fine Art Gallery in Austin, Texas.

The mediums he prefers are oils, gouache, pastel, and pencil. One of his additional talents is photography, and from his extensive collection of photos, he often references these resource materials, which enhances his paintings. His work is described as realism, as evidenced by the amount of detail in his paintings.

Because of his unique and diverse talents people often commissioned him to create a one of kind paintings for exclusive clients to commemorate their Safari experience. He has also has been commissioned to create portraits of their pets. Peter’s paintings are available from his studio and the above mentioned galleries. Please contact him if you would like to commission a painting.