Peter Barker-Mill was born in Italy and studied at the Grosvenor School of Art, London in the early 1930s. During World War II he was in the Civil Defence Camouflage unit, joining the Ministry of Town and Country Planning in 1944. His work was shown at the Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol in 1989 and at the Minorries, Colchester in 1991. Sting Ray was first exhibited in 1934 at Redfern Gallery, London.