Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canadian artist Peter Rowles grew-up in Hamilton,
where he attended McMaster University in Philosophy and English. In l976,
he headed west, moving first to Central British Columbia, and then to Edmonton,
Alberta. An offer of good wages in a beautiful location led him back to British
Columbia in l995, where he remains a resident of Victoria.
Rowles has pursued a variety of creative avocations over the years--singer, songwriter, lyricist, musician and artist among them. In recent times however, he is perhaps best known for his exceptional technique in collage. As a young person he experimented with various media, but the seemingly endless possibilities of what might be done with paper and a little glue increasingly absorbed his interest to the point where, beginning in the late 80's, he has worked almost exclusively in collage. In addition to cards and posters, the images he creates have been featured in ways as diverse as CD covers and jigsaw puzzles.
His most recent project is a book entitled, Paper Sailor, which was published in January 2010, and is available through this site. It features a selection of his lyrics and poems, and fourteen collages he created specifically for the book.