It has been said that twins share a special bond. In the case of identical twins, Peter Heywood and Don Heywood, the same can be said of their artistic talent.

As the older brother by 10 minutes, Peter was born in England. He began his professional career in education as a teacher of math and physics. During his 25 years as a teacher, his attention to detail, his academic knowledge, and his personal commitment to his students led to him receiving Britain's Teacher of the Year Award.

As a self taught artist for more than 30 years, Peter has exhibited widely in north of England and London, including a one man show in Saville Row. Working mainly with acrylic on canvas, his early paintings were influenced by Andrew Wyeth. In the last four years, Peter, has primarily exhibited in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa, where he, his family, and his brother, Don, currently reside.

Through composition, color, and texture, Peter's art represents an uncompromising attention to detail. Whether as a landscape, an isolated farm building within a landscape, or an everyday feature such as a window frame, a door, or a fence post, his work brings to focus and life the beauty of everyday scenes a viewer would normally take for granted.

There are three themes underlying Peter's work, the first is the domination of a large landscape relative to human scale and presence. The second is his "up close" detail of everday objects, such as doors or window frames, or the views of landscapes through old doors or windows. The third is his observation of everyday subjects within an urban landscape, such as a fire escape on the exterior of a building, and the shadows created by the subject. In all of these, Peter is observing what most people take for granted, and invites the viewer to "take a closer look".

In early 2001, Peter, his wife Enrica, and their two children will move to Venice where he will focus his artistic talent painting the unique and beautiful architecture and canals of Venice, as well as scenic landscapes of the Italian countryside. He is also committed to working with international organizations raising funds for the preservation of Venice.