Pete Hollow was born on Texel, the biggest Wadden island- situated in the north of the Netherlands. Inspired and intrigued he gave his creativity the free hand and started drawing and sculpting insects and flowers. He drew with black pencil only which made his Primary School teacher wonder whether he could see colour at all. Even when Pete was handed colour pencils only, he would mix the colors until they went grey. Fast forward more than 40 years and a lot of things have changed: Pete’s incredible technique (for the better) and his health (for the worst). However, his love for flowers and insects and black-and-white has always stayed with him.
In his twenties Pete moved to Amsterdam to study, and build a career as a painter and photorealistic illustrator. Hollow was one of the founders of very successful and internationally renowned studio that worked with many different creatives on numerous art- and commercial projects. In 2001 Hollow was struck by a rare autoimmune disease, that destroyed most of the function in his hands, disabling his arms and legs partially.
PH : “In my darkest hour, I got so sick that I flatlined for 15 minutes. A month later I woke up from a coma, paralyzed from the neck down and breathing through a ventilator. At that stage, you’re at a point you have to let everything go entirely. You’re not in charge anymore and life comes 1 day at a time.”
Website: petehollow.com
