There is a quiet clarity that runs through Peter Cavaciuti’s work — the mark of someone who has spent a lifetime in close conversation with brush, ink, and nature.

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Trained in Chinese painting by Fei Chengwu, the principal student of the great master Xu Beihong, Peter’s art carries forward an unbroken lineage of East Asian brush painting. Yet his voice is entirely his own. Calm, precise, and deeply responsive to the world around him. His Chinese name, Yi Song, reflects this lineage, while his Japanese Tea name, Sōrin, was bestowed on him by the Grand Master of the Urasenke school; its seal is used only on special works.

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For more than thirty years, Peter has lived and worked in Cambridge, painting, teaching, and guiding students into the tradition of East Asian art. His studio is filled with the scent of ink and the hush of concentration, a place where a single stroke can hold both discipline and freedom.

His subjects are often simple — a branch, a bamboo grove, a quiet stretch of water — but each painting reveals the depth of attention and the serenity that defines his practice.

Seals, a traditional and integral part of East Asian painting, play an important role in his compositions. He uses a variety of seals carved for him by masters across East Asia, both to authenticate and to enhance the balance of a painting. He works with the finest vermillion seal paste, chosen for its stable colour, lightfastness, and clean, non-oily quality.

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Peter’s paintings have been shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the Royal Watercolour Society, and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, as well as at the Daiwa Foundation, Kettle’s Yard, and in exhibitions across Europe and Asia.
His public engagements include demonstrating East Asian painting techniques at the Victoria & Albert Museum; lecturing on art, culture, and Tea at Trinity Hall, King’s College, St Catherine’s College, and multiple Cambridge student unions; features with the Open University; and media appearances such as Asahi TV Japan (2025). His work has been exhibited or featured internationally, including at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath, Galerie Leda Fletcher in Geneva, and the Regional Museums of Nanjing, as well as in various magazine articles and online platforms.

Through his regular participation in Cambridge Open Studios, visitors have been able to encounter his work in the intimate setting of his own studio, Koshosai — “the Pine Studio”, where painting and teaching continue side by side.

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A Life in Teaching

Teaching has always been a central part of Peter’s life. Over the years, he has shared his knowledge of East Asian painting. Students often describe his classes as peaceful and transformative, learning not only brush technique, but also a way of seeing — attentive, patient, and unhurried.

In Peter’s view, art is not something separate from life; it is a way of living more attentively within it.

 

Chadō - The Way of Tea

Alongside his painting, Peter is also a Tea Master, leading Koshosai Chadō gatherings in Cambridge.
The Way of Tea, rooted in Japanese culture, reflects values that also shape his art: simplicity, awareness, and respect for each encounter.

Though painting and Tea are distinct paths, they share a quiet conversation in Peter’s life — both dedicated to harmony, precision, and the beauty of the present moment.

 

Selected Exhibitions

• Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition — London (1997, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2023)
• Royal Watercolour Society — London (1997, 2001, 2004)
• Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour — London (1998)
• Daiwa Foundation — London, Solo Exhibition (1999)
• Kettle’s Yard — Cambridge, Millennium Exhibition (2000)
• Inner Worlds — Cam River Arts, Cambridge (2022); SpaceTimeField, Taipei (2024)
• Cambridge Open Studios, Koshosai — Cambridge (annual, including 2024–2025)
• Song Lin Zhai: Paintings from the Pine Forest Studio — Trinity Hall, Cambridge (2025)

 

Artist’s Reflection

“Each painting begins in silence.
The brush moves only when the mind is still.
The moment the ink meets the paper, it records not an object, but a state of being.
What matters most is not representation, but presence — the simple awareness of life unfolding, here and now.”