Bolinas, California is an ocean-side town that teeters on the edge of the Pacific and the edge of the world, is a haunt not unlike a Steinbeck novel. It serves as the living backdrop for my film about a 90 yr. old artist, Peter Lee Brownlee, his zany friends and a woman who wants to save his paintings from ruination.—Anonymous
Painting Bolinas is a documentary film about a ninety-year-old artist, Peter Lee Brownlee, whose lifestyle mirrors a king in a court of chaos and imagination. Peter is known as the cake decorator because of his massive layering technique. Creating rich textures, his paintings are of urban and rural downtowns and famous landmarks all across America. In an earlier time, one of his paintings was on the cover of New York Living and others were donated to help Yoko Ono raise funds for the Strawberry Fields John Lennon Memorial in Central Park.
His court includes an eccentric collection of people who have lost their dreams and found their way to Bolinas, California, a village that recalls an ocean-side haunt of Steinbeck novel. It serves as the living backdrop for a film about a brilliant artist, the aging process, a woman who wants to save his paintings from ruination and the zany characters that choose to live out their lives with him.
A lesson in socio-anthropology; it is a study that focuses on contemporary human beings in social groups. Granted it is rather unorthodox, but it still reflects the underlying logics of social behavior. It is a story of love on many levels. The protagonist discusses how he sees his place as a house of refuge where he allows anyone who needs a place to stay, to do so. He doesn't know how many people live with him and he doesn't care. He has a dear relationship with his Butler even though he says he hates him. His Butler still continues to serve him taking off his shoes and heating up his food after being verbally abused several times. Additionally, viewing all the different ethnic and economic status' of these groups and how they interact in this very small isolated California coastal town (that has remained unchanged for years) is a socio-anthropological study of its own.
Four years in the making, this documentary attempts to bring light the lives of musicians, artists, philosophers, and intellectuals including those populations who are largely ignored. These beloved denizens of Bolinas, California, seem to always find themselves at a juncture, balancing their ranking and inner turmoil in society with their quest for personal and spiritual freedom. The unique and genuine relationships this extraordinary fine art painter has with everyone in town and beyond illustrate an undeniable celebration of the human spirit.
