The artist Peter Rolfe is a Portland, Maine native and has an unusual formal education for an artist. He studied mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Illinois and graduated in 1965. He also holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. He worked for Westinghouse and USM Engineering until 1970 when he began to dabble in painting. While serving as first mate on a ship in 1971 he began to paint seriously and continued painting for a year before opening his gallery in Wiscasset, Maine. Peter is a self-taught artist and paints primarily with oils, but also uses watercolors, gouache, acrylic, pastel and lithograph.