In remembrance
Peter Poole is remembered here not only for the breadth of his work, but for the generosity, curiosity and quiet determination that ran through it. From graphic design and painting to writing, environmental campaigning and support work, he built a creative life that touched many different communities.
Overview
Peter Poole lived a richly multidisciplinary life, moving freely between commercial design, independent fine art, comics, short fiction, live readings, Super 8 film, later digital video and community-based creative work. Art, for him, was never confined to one medium or one role, and what he left behind is an archive that reflects both his talent and his restless, generous curiosity.
Peter Poole's work brought together realistic observation and imaginative invention, whether he was painting still life, landscapes and urban scenes, designing theatre backdrops, making Super 8 and digital films, writing short stories and plays, or creating work for the many Wild in Art trails he contributed to from 2013 onwards. His creative life was wide-ranging, but it always carried a distinctive warmth, wit and visual intelligence.
His moving-image work began with urban and documentary shorts in the late 1980s and grew over the years to include drama, protest documentary, artist-process pieces and music-video collaborations. Earlier films were preserved through Screen Archive South East and found new audiences through the Cineminiatures channel, while later works made their way to Latest TV and BBC Radio Devon.
Alongside his artistic life, Peter gave his time and energy to environmental causes and later to charity and voluntary work. In 2013 he gained a Level 1 Award in Health and Social Care at City College Brighton, and his later years included flexible support work with the Grace Eyre Foundation in Brighton, where creativity and care were, naturally, part of the same generous outlook.
His public art commissions continued well into the 2020s, taking his designs to Bournemouth, Worcester, Croydon, Southend, Ipswich, South Wales and Devon. Taken together, they speak to a life of sustained invention and quiet dedication, and to work that brought delight to people far beyond his immediate circle.
Profile
Peter's life at a glance
A life remembered
These milestones trace the arc of Peter's life: from early design training through painting, writing, environmental campaigning and support work, to the many public commissions that carried his art into later years and new audiences.
Peter trained in graphic design at Croydon College and went on to work professionally in the field, while also beginning to make the early Super 8 films — among them Urban Visions and Skateabout — that marked the start of a much wider creative life.
These were years of real breadth and commitment: environmental writing, campaign graphics, public artworks and growing recognition, as Peter gave himself with equal enthusiasm to civic causes, local exhibitions and the communities he cared about.
Peter exhibited paintings widely, worked in arts-support roles, digitised his earlier films and became increasingly active as a writer and performer, reading his own work publicly and engaging with theatre, storytelling and literary events.
His work ranged widely across televised short films, documentaries, artist-process videos and large public art commissions, while writing performances and ongoing support work at the Grace Eyre Foundation continued in parallel — a period that reflected, very naturally, his equal commitment to creativity and care.
Peter's Wild in Art and National Trust commissions extended through the last years of his life, taking his work to Devon, South Wales, Ipswich, Southend, Croydon, Worcester and Bournemouth. It was a final chapter full of colour, imagination and the pleasure of making work for the public.
Later years and continuing work
Commissioned by Wild in Art for The Great Tail Trail in Bournemouth, with the work later sold at the charity auction on Friday 20 June.
Completed commissions for The Great Waddle of Worcester, Croydon Stands Tall for the London Borough of Culture 2023, and Herd in the City in Southend-on-Sea, with the Croydon design sponsored by Festive Lighting.
Produced Wild in Art designs for A Dog's Trail in South Wales, The Big Hoot in Ipswich, Hares About Town in Southend-on-Sea, and the National Trust's Moor Otters 2021 trail in Devon. The Big Hoot commission also included a colouring sheet linked to the design.
Worked as a Flexible Support Worker with the Grace Eyre Foundation in Brighton, supporting adults with learning disabilities through creative, social and recreational activity.
Writing, readings and performance
Held public readings of the plays Really Green and Presumably So at the Sussex Playwrights' Club while also serving as the organization's secretary.
Read three short stories at Chinese Whispers, performed Got to Go at the Hendrick's Gin Fast Fiction Slam hosted by Damian Barr, and had Inspector Alec and Small Money read by actors during Brighton Fringe and New Venture Theatre events.
The short story Cheaper Thrills was read by actor Jerry Lyne at Such Stuff, a 70th anniversary evening at the New Venture Theatre in Brighton.
The plays The Unsuitable and Sunny Days received performed readings at the New Venture Theatre in Brighton, continuing a parallel writing life alongside the visual work.
Exhibitions and studio practice
Completed commissions for Snailspace Brighton & Hove, The Great Big Rhino Project and The Great Gorilla Project, with Around the Whirled later installed at the Dame Vera Lynn Children's Charity in Cuckfield. Also took part in 100 Artists for World Aids Day at The Dome in Brighton and produced art commissions for Edu-Play Theatre.
Showed work at Café Gallery in Southwark, Littlehampton Museum Open, Luton Hoo Walled Garden Open and Artshed Arts in Hertfordshire, with paintings sold through exhibitions and private commissions. Relaxing Green was voted one of the public's three favourite works at Littlehampton Museum Open.
Took part in The Fairytale Auction at JAG Gallery in Brighton, sold work through i-candy arts and Artshed exhibitions, and showed paintings including View From Tate Modern, View from Beachy Head, Luminocity and Pink Sunday while also selling greetings cards and small paintings at festivals and markets.
Won first prize in the Paradise Park live painting event, received public recognition for Palace of Illusion at Friends Centre in Brighton, and won Southwark Festival's pavement art competition with Hope is a Butterfly.
Film, media and community work
Digitised earlier Super 8 films with Screen Archive South East, launched the Cineminiatures YouTube channel in 2009, and continued making documentaries, artist-process films and music-video collaborations. Works from Olympic London to Otterly Alice later reached Latest TV, while the storytelling section of Otterly Alice was broadcast on BBC Radio Devon.
Worked as an internet moderator at RMI Services in East Sussex, continued making short documentary films around Brighton, Hove and Devon, and undertook filming and photography for The Oyster Project's Heritage Lottery-funded Our Histories archive project, including running drop-in sessions and helping arrange the project's open day.
Worked on filmed theatre, DVD mastering, spiritual painting assistance and audio mixing for Brighton Festival plays, while video work dating back to 1987 was accepted into the Screen Archive South East collection. In 2008 he also received a runner-up prize from the Luke Bitmead Memorial Fund writers' bursary scheme organized by Legend Press.
Campaigns and earlier milestones
Spoke at the Bexhill Link Road Public Inquiry, stood as an independent candidate in the Brighton & Hove City Council election, joined a Friends of the Earth lobby at the European Parliament in Brussels, supported saveHOVE, and carried out campaign work in Brighton and London including the Home Recycling Campaign.
Produced commercial and graphic commissions including album artwork for DeWolfe Music, illustrations for Bloomsbury Publishing, a comic strip for the Boston anthology Don't Shoot! It's Only Comics, and model work for London Weekend Television titles designed with Addictive Television.
Created artwork for Friends of the Earth UK's Road Traffic Reduction Bill campaign, alongside short environmental and arts writing for local publications.
