“He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
He works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.”
– St. Francis of Assisi
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Peter is a self-taught artist who lives and works in Dublin. He grew up on the family farm on a small island in County Kerry. As a child he won several art competitions and he was top of his art class at school. While he always had a great interest in art it wasn’t until 1999 that he took up art seriously. Some local art classes provided just the catalyst he needed to get him started. His enthusiasm grew as he studied the works of the great masters and developed his own skills as a painter.

David Leffel and Peter Dee
Wine Still Life
Fruit Sill Life


Peter works mainly in oils, painting various subjects including landscapes, seascapes and still life compositions. It is in the area of still life that most of his work is focused. He has achieved a remarkable level of skill in the short time he has been painting. Light transforms simple objects in his still life compositions into visually exciting images full of vibrant colour combinations. He strives to capture the effects of light as it affects various surfaces – to perfect Chiaroscuro techniques and the interplay between light and dark. His paintings are full of visual contrasts – hard and soft edges, light and dark tones, vivid and dull colours. Striking effects are achieved by the use of a brightly lit focal point that sometimes appears to glow with a halo effect. As well as studying works of the great masters, especially Rembrandt and Chardin, Peter has been inspired by the work of David Leffel and Greg Kreutz, both contemporary New York still life artists. Irish artists such as Leech and Orpen and the contemporary still life artists Padraig Lynch and James English also influence his work.

Peter first exhibited his work in 2002, generating great interest in his work. He has been successful in selling his paintings both in private sales as well as at various exhibitions countrywide, e.g. Group Shows at Kennedy’s Art Gallery, Dublin Painting & Sketching Annual Exhibitions, Dublin Art Society Art Exhibitions, Beaufield Mews Christmas Exhibitions, etc. His work is exhibited in various galleries around Dublin, The Waldock Gallery, Kennedy’s Art Gallery, Gallery 4, etc

Art Workshop with David A Leffel in New York

Peter attended an intensive five-day workshop in New York, with David A. Leffel, one of America’s premier artists, focusing on painting the figure and the still life. Mr. Leffel teaches concepts of dimension, space and illumination. In his own words, “A work of art should not be judged on whether it contains something new. It’s what you see that’s important, and when you see with great clarity and intensity, that’s when you are being creative, not when you are consciously looking to create something new.”