Peter Ellenshaw describes his paintings as his own individual kind of realism. His paintings represent the truth of a scene as he sees it: "A picture must look real. If I can't believe the picture I paint, I am not satisfied. Paintings must be alive." Ellenshaw's paintings are, indeed, alive; his canvases are infused with his passion for the land and the sea.

Born in Great Britain, Ellenshaw has lived in California for many years. His works are represented in public and private collections throughout the world. Ellenshaw's numerous exhibitions at prestigious art museums include many one-man exhibits at Hammer Galleries in New York City. The artwork he produced during his 30-year association with Disney Productions was honored with a retrospective show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Ellenshaw was associated with more than 30 Disney films — Academy Award winning films from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to Mary Poppins, for which Ellenshaw won an Oscar for special effects in 1964.

Ellenshaw's powerful panoramic landscapes express both the magnitude and the delicacy of nature. He calls his method of painting "impressionistic shorthand," which refers to his use of broad brush strokes to give the impression of detail. There is a jewel-like quality to his colors that fires the light in his paintings.

Ellenshaw is able to evoke an immediate response in lovers of nature as he colors his canvases with a combination of technical skill and poetic imagination. For Ellenshaw, "The wonderful thing in painting is that one can never reach the peak of one's endeavor. As the years go by, it becomes increasingly difficult to paint just a little better than last year; but in the trying, one lives to the fullest as a painter."

His art is the subject of the book, The Garden Within — The Art of Peter Ellenshaw, winner of the 1997 Benjamin Franklin Award, published by Mill Pond Press, Inc.