Peter Smith’s Playtime invites viewers into a whimsical world where vivid imagination and playful storytelling meet. In his signature joyful style, Smith presents a trio of charming creatures, dressed in harmonious stripes of orange, red, and white, huddled close beside a single bright red ball. Their gentle interaction radiates warmth, companionship, and innocence.
Rendered in a soft yet striking palette, the composition draws the viewer into its tender embrace. Smith’s deft use of colour highlights each character’s uniqueness while uniting them in a lively, cohesive scene. A textured, understated background enhances this effect, allowing the figures to shine and evoking a sense of nostalgia and wonder.
Blending surrealism with pop art, Smith infuses Playtime with both charm and timeless appeal. The smooth, rounded forms and vibrant hues capture the spirit of childhood joy, inviting adults to revisit the simplicity of play. Though playful in appearance, the piece holds narrative depth, encouraging the viewer to imagine the adventures these whimsical figures might share. The red ball becomes a symbol of possibility, sparking curiosity and delight.
| Medium: | Giclée |
| Format: | Paper |
| Size (Framed): | 67 x 67 cm |
| Size (Unframed): | 38 x 38 cm |
| Signed: | Yes |
| Limited Edition: | Edition 5 of 295 |
Peter Smith has established himself as one of the UK’s leading naïve artists, with a large back catalogue of limited editions spanning (initially) paper and canvas editions, sculptures and of course original paintings. His editions remain highly collectable & sort after.
As of 2024, his story based naïve artwork have been in constant publication since 2005! which is no small achievement in the fast moving UK art market.
His ‘Impossimals’ (created by himself & his wife Jayne Smith) characters are comedic and zany interpretations of people & their habits, I see them as cartoon-like ‘hippo’ characters, and they seem to get up to all sorts of mischief over the years including: drinking, eating chocolate & ice-cream, making cakes and baking!
Over time, Peter has also experimented with other collectables including keyrings, cufflinks, compact mirrors, paper weights and best selling calendars which I believe he publishes himself for his fans. However, it is without doubt his hilarious limited edition sculptures, often accompany artwork of the same name, that have sold equally as well as his prints. As of 2024 Peter has released at least 25 sculptures editions.
Peter is versatile and has turned his award winning style to other subject matters. In 2015 he released ‘Peter Smith – The Lost Alice Collection’, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carol’s ’Alice In Wonderland’ series – characters that have captured the hearts of children and adults for generation – with 4 amazing sculptures and 6 wonderful canvas limited editions.
View Profile
