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David Smith
(British)
British landscape artists, David Smith was born in Thundersley, Benfleet, Essex in 1949. Of a modest family but having artistic talents in the form of his paternal grandfather, a larger than life character who in his early life, earned his living as a bare fist pugilist and sailed the world on ocean going liners as a printer, producing menus and other shipboard paraphemalia. Also a keen amateur artist teaching his grandson not only to defend himself but how to weald a paint brush, introducing David to painting and a fair measure of courage. For David, as his life progressed, needed much of the latter to achieve his ambition as a professional artist.
School holidays were happily spent with his maternal grandparents in Derbyshire. A change from the rather bleak industrial landscape of his birthplace into the countryside where he was to become aware of its beauty, of undulating mountains, its tree-laden valleys, fast flowing rivers, and quiet twinkling streams. As he sat fishing, infused with spiritual awareness at the beauty that enveloped him and to where he was to return many years later as a fully-fledged artist to create some of his finest masterpieces. For even then, he could visualize, in his minds eye, the completed picture only lacking the skill to achieve the end result.
A major setback was to occur in David’s life despite his success in art-related subjects when, in 1965, his parent’s marriage broke down. His father abandoned the family and moving to New Zealand. At the age of 15, he had to leave school and earn his living to help support his mother and sister. At first he held a variety of casual laboring jobs and factory work. To secure a more regular and higher income, he took up a government-training scheme as a bricklayer and was soon earning enough to take on the responsibility of marriage. Soon after his first child, Peter was born followed by Michael and Joanna.
Throughout the foregoing period, spanning some fifteen years, David spent most of his spare time trying to improve his artistic technique. He would study the work of Tony Sheath, who he later befriended and received crucial advice on how to impart his thoughts on to canvas. A gallery owner of a prestigious gallery in Rayliegh, Essex also gave him critiques until David’s work had sufficient merit to hang in his gallery. This finally happened in 1974, when the gallery took four of David’s paintings and sold them immediately. All the years of artistic dedication had paid off and David Smith, the artist realized his dream.
In 1976 David stepped into his career full time. He moved to the heart of rural Essex to become a full time painter. His work caught the eyes of collector’s nationally. For the last twenty-seven years, David Smith has consolidated his position and now ranks among Britain’s most famous artists. He has also had acclaim on an international level, with over half of his annual output being sold in the USA. His paintings are considered the work of a master realist. Jones & Terwilliger Galleries proudly represents David Smith in California.
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