One of six children, Bruce Peardon lived and was educated in Brisbane until, at the age of fifteen, he joined the Royal Australian Navy. He attended a naval college in Freemantle, Western Australia for one year before being transferred to a naval base (HMAS Cerberus) in Victoria. At the age of seventeen, while on leave in Victoria during 1962, he was injured in a motor vehicle accident which resulted in paralysis of his arms and legs.
Peardon had always been interested in art and it was during his time recovering at the Austin Hospital Spinal Unit in Victoria that he met two artists, James K. Meath and Bill Mooney, who painted by holding a paintbrush in their mouth. They were both members of the International Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (AMFPA). Peardon taught himself to paint using the same technique, and two years later he was accepted as a student of AMFPA under scholarship, becoming a full member in 1972. In 1992 at Rome delegates convention, Bruce was elected to the Management Board of AMFPA.
Peardon painted many Australian bush scenes and landscapes, largely inspired by the area in which he lived in south-east Queensland, and his work has been captured on greeting cards and also shown at exhibitions. His bestselling books for children have been translated into many different languages.
