Christopher Peterson comes to his current paintings first as an illustrator—he cites Norman Rockwell and James McMullan among his influences—but his colorfully painted urban landscapes are firmly planted in the oeuvre of American Realist painters such as Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth. Working with oil on canvas, Peterson says he "straddles the wobbly line between fine and applied art."He built his professional name designing more than 150 posters for San Francisco’s legendary concert venue The Fillmore, along with posters for Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Phish, Peter Frampton, Bonnie Raitt and, most recently, Van Morrison. His work has been published in The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle and The Art of Modern Rock by Paul Grushkin and Dennis King. His paintings are in many private and corporate collections, including the US Air Force art collection.Peterson was born in New York City, grew up in Westport, Conn., and now makes his home in Asheville, N.C. He is represented by SHOH gallery in Berkeley.