Four Decades

Peter Schnitter

“When other kids were outside playing football, I was inside drawing,” Schnitter said.Schnitter is a self-taught artist who did his first serious painting when he was 14 to impress a girl.”It worked,” Schnitter said. “So I’m still at it, painting and trying to impress girls.”

Schnitter started but never completed a certificate course in commercial art in the 1970s but has honed his skills over the years.Through the years he’s worked at an assortment of jobs.”I have a list of careers longer than a basketball player’s arm,” Schnitter said.

He prefers acrylic paint and thins it for a transparent look that he layers on the canvas until he has the effect he wants. Schnitter said he likes to capture a moment in time and allow the viewer to complete the story from the image. “Abstract art is about color, shape and composition,” Schnitter said. “It’s kind of an exercise.” His paintings almost always have a person in them and tries to catch a moment, express a feeling or tell a story in his work, he said. “If I can catch an emotion in abstract, it’s a bonus,” Schnitter said.

In addition Schnitter has done wood carving using a knife although large projects have become too difficult and he no longer has a wood shop. A grandfather clock and shadow box are on display with intricate dragon carvings. A few clay dragons also are part of the collection.”I’m Peter Pan and never had to grow up,” Schnitter confessed. “I want people to have fun no matter what age they are.”

Schnitter lives in upper New York but is the younger brother of Hudson resident Penny Frese. “She told me about the gallery and they liked my work enough to give me a show,” Schnitter said.