| Gordon Smedt |
My painting style develops from traditional impressionism. However i am heavily influenced by the impact of modern pop art. Life's memories continue to play a role in my art but day-to-day life is my greatest influence and inspiration. I tend to be straightforward in relation to my work. I take the ordinary, relics of another age or contemporary objects, and bestow them with new meaning and importance. I usually paint inanimate objects. However, I think of my paintings as portraits rather than still lives. I paint objects with "human like" qualities-strong in personality. i treat each subject with the same respect a portrait artist would the human body. I paint them boldly, with energy, strong light and color, bringing these objects to life, transforming the familiar into the extraordinary. I prefer painting large canvases. I have come to realize that the scale of my work is not only an integral part of my style but also lends to the impact of each item I paint. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, I studied art at San Jose State University before continuing my education at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena California where I was twice awarded merit scholarships and graduated with honors receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1986. Residing in the Los Gatos Mountains in Northern California, I continue to ambitiously paint as often as I can. It's one of the most challenging and rewarding things I live with. I'm constantly striving to elevate my work and hopefully surprise myself and others along the way. My paintings have been showing in distinguished Art Galleries for the past 22 years, and my work collected internationally. |
| Photo by Peter Carter |
| Now available. A catalog of selected paintings by artist Gordon Smedt from the past twenty years. This 100 page book contains fifty large, full-color images of some of his most popular work to date. |
