Raised in Monterey Bay, California, Peter Pettegrew began drawing and sketching seascapes from his earliest years, inspired by the rugged beauty of his coastal home. When he was only four years old, his aunt - a painter herself - realized his talent and suggested to his mother that she provide him with blank paper instead of the standard children's coloring books. By the time he was ten, Pettegrew was studying with a marine painter in the Bay Area.

He began his formal art education at Harbor Senior High, a progressive school in Santa Cruz known for its creative freedom and its dedication to furthering students’ artistic skills. Pettegrew later moved to Florida and attended the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, where he studied graphic art techniques as well as the painting that has always been a part of his life. Pettegrew also studied oil and watercolor techniques, all the while exploring charcoal drawing on his own and in private workshops.

Much of Pettegrew's landscape artwork has been inspired and influenced by Master Impressionist painters of the 19th Century, as well as by his extensive travels in the Bahamas, France, Montana and California in recent years. Pettegrew, as a naturalist and an outdoorsman, appreciates the natural beauty of Southeastern United States, explaining, “whether I’m painting in the Everglades or in the marshes of South Carolina, these Southern wetlands have a feel and presence like nowhere else I’ve been. This land is where the spirit within lies very close to the surface. Its beauty abounds and one does not have to struggle to locate its magnificent side.”