The first job is to come up with an idea, this is often helped by suggestions from collectors and lots of cups of tea.  Peter gains inspiration from many different sources.  The antics for the cat pieces come from his own cats and he uses recollections from childhood along with history books, photos and postcards to create authentic settings.  Peter also has a collection of antique toys which also help when building ideas.  Sometimes ideas are formed at the most unlikely of times such as in the middle of the night when a pen and paper are sought in the darkness.  

Peter often sketches ideas on paper and then the creativity begins. Working in plasticine items are sculpted and modelled.  Peter always builds rather cut way at that plasticine as he prefers to assemble pieces to achieve the right look and feel.

Once a model is finished in its plasticine state it is then ready for a mould to be made.  The plasticine model is surrounded by 4 walls of cardboard and then liquid silicone rubber is then poured over it until it is fully submerged. Once the rubber has been set the plasticine model is removed from the space leaving a perfect mould of the original.

This mould is then used to create a number of copies which are cast in a durable green resin called greenware.    These masters are then used to create more moulds.

The moulds are filled with a mixture of liquid resin and ceramic where it then sets.  Once set and removed from the moulds the pieces are ground and fettled to remove any impurities and to create a flat even base.  

The pieces are then ready to be hand-painted.