Extra staples, paperclips, and magnets from his job as a Middle School Science teacher, a week off in February, and the feeling of not wanting to get off the couch, but needing to do something at the same time. These events and feelings led Peter Valeiras to discover art initially, spending that entire week in February separating staples and then playing with them in sculptural ways, making mountains and valleys of them on the coffee table or creating a hand made completely out of staples. At the time he didn't do much beyond this initial foray into staples, but it was the start of his playing with art.
Peter then stumbled upon art again while playing around with some wire and canvas in his apartment during COVID-19. It was a time in his life where he felt alone and vulnerable, so he found solace in the art he created, taking out his frustrations on the wire and canvas, bending and poking them respectively to create various three-dimensional forms on the canvas. Trees were first, with undulating, dancing forms coming next. Then color, Peter experimented with various pigmentation techniques using different materials such as pastel, chalk, dye, dry paint, acrylic paint, and more. This was in an effort to create a texture to the canvas to mimic that of the wire.
