Some thirty years ago artist Peter Day had a life changing experience in North Sydney. Today he is one of Australia’s most commissioned artists. In October, Day is set to return to North Sydney with a Survey show at the Marianne Newman Gallery in Crows Nest.

Peter Day won a scholarship to attend the Royal Art Society in Walker Street, North Sydney, an event he credits as changing the course of his life. It was there he met his teacher and mentor Arthur Murch, one of Australia’s most respected artists who won the Archibald Prize in 1949.

“Murch taught me to paint”, Day says, ”specifically he taught me the physics and chemistry of colour. I will always be grateful for his mentorship and encouragement and also to the other teachers of the RAS for teaching me technical art history and discipline.” According to Day it was the time spent at the Royal Art Society that gave him the technical knowledge to create his many mega murals and other public art projects, including two of the biggest murals painted in the southern hemisphere.

Day is especially well known for his intensely colourful works and groundbreaking research into frescos on paper. The exhibition to be held at the Marianne Newman Gallery focuses on his works on paper highlighting the major phases of the artist’s development over the last three decades.