Peter Bennett

Painting

Born in Coronado, CA., and is currently residing in Colorado. Raised between the coastal landscapes of Southern California and Hawaii, Peter James Bennett is a self-taught, abstract painter operating out of Wolf + Raven Studios in Denver, CO.  Bennett’s work explores themes of turbulence, sanctuary, spiritual transformation. and color fields.  His artistic foundation was deeply influenced by his family and his creative perspective as an avid surfer; the ocean's kinetic energy and meditative tranquility heavily informed his early visual language, in which waves and vortexes served as symbols of cosmic protection amid external chaos.

Following a life-altering accident in his mid-twenties that ended his ability to surf, Bennett navigated a profound period of personal upheaval and identity loss. This tumultuous era temporarily shifted his practice toward raw, avant-garde, and intentionally unresolved imagery. Emerging from this crisis with a renewed sense of purpose, Bennett dedicated twenty years to civil service within the San Diego County Probation Department, leveraging artistic expression as a vehicle for community healing and youth mentorship.

Bennett holds a Bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University. Over the past three decades, his paintings have been exhibited across California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado, reflecting a lifelong synthesis of personal resilience, civil advocacy, and visionary abstraction.