In art school, my focus on painting was portrait and figurative. After graduation, the lack of human models left me with the gift to paint everything else in the world. I focus on what intrigues and excites me personally, which are often objects familiar to most of us but far from obvious as typical subject matter.

The majority of my subjects are inanimate objects yet I've never considered myself a "still-life" painter. Rather I'm a figurative/portrait painter who doesn't necessarily paint humans. I can tell a more interesting narrative by painting clothing rather than a person wearing them. I've always painted large-scale canvases and feel this is an important aspect to my work. I'm bringing life back to these subjects and the large scale gives power and importance to something often forgotten, overlooked, or discarded.

I strive for boldness through color, paint application, and scale, complimented with a sense of intimacy through my close-up and straight forward perspective. It is my hope that the inspiration and delight I experience while creating my art in parts the same impression upon my audience. Art is one of the most challenging and rewarding things I live with. I'm constantly striving to elevate my work and pleasantly surprise myself and others along the way.

Gordon Smedt