From animals created from maps, labels and discarded tickets, to garments carefully crafted from gift wrapping, musical scores and love letters, Peter Clark has the rare ability to turn ordinary printed matter into exquisite works of art with character, beauty and wit. Whether it's at a car boot sale in Chiswick, an antiques fair in Sussex, or further afield to flea markets in France, USA, Japan and India, he travels far and wide to source materials for his next pieces.

Each of Peter's wonderfully detailed creations is sparked by a word or phrase that strikes him somehow and sends him off to the dictionary to really study and think about how he can illustrate the concept. His explanation of the work is disarmingly simple: "I interpret the written word, hopefully with humor!" There is, of course, much more to it than that; and it always starts out with his first love: drawing!

"I look at collage rather like music mixing and multiculturalism: exciting and, if done sensitively, it can go anywhere and do anything. But you must avoid the "you can do anything on computers these days' syndrome." To that end, Peter resists computer manipulation and photocopying, preferring instead to do hands-on work with actual pieces of paper and glue.