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 Vallarta Living | Art Talk | February 2007 
Brad Smith at Galleria Dante This Week
 PVNN
| | On February 28th, March 1st and March 2nd, "the most romantic painter in Santa Fe," Brad Smith, will be painting at Galleria Dante. For more information, call 222-2477 or visit GalleriaDante.com. |
Brad Smith, dubbed as "the most romantic painter in Santa Fe," will be painting local models at Galleria Dante on February 28th, March 1st and 2nd from 1-4 pm. He welcomes commissions and can create a personally meaningful painting just for you.
Both men and women collect Smith's paintings, and both seem equally beguiled by the magic. Women identify with the emotions and dreams they sense behind the expressions of these elegant yet somehow familiar ladies.
Men feel a tug of desire that is less for the subject of the painting than for the possibilities of life and love they see in her face. Everyone seems to realize that there is vastly more here than meets the eye.
Smith is careful not to interpose himself between his work and the viewer's reveries. He allows the mystery to ripen in the mind, remaining silent, betraying his thoughts only by a slight smile and a twinkle.
Artist statement:
I feel I am just beginning to paint. I am finding my voice more and more confidently with every painting. I find having my own gallery has set me free to paint and exhibit the painting I feel most strongly about and the feedback from my clients and collectors has been so positive that I am painting more from my heart every day.
I am inspired by a wide range of subjects and I feel each subject requires a little different approach... from abstract to portraiture, I feel my way through each painting trying to enjoy the process as much as the finished canvas.
I put my heart and soul into each canvas, but the more I paint, the more inspiration comes and the more paintings I have ideas for... I am so excited about everyday that I have time to work on another creative idea. And to have a client or collector want a painting for their collection gives me the most satisfied feeling of all.
I love to share my work, and if it brings positive energy to a collector's environment, I am so grateful that I am able to translate that through my work - and share it with others. It just doesn't get any better than that for me, and I struggle to live in the moment and appreciate everything that is happening, then on to the next painting I go...
I hope I someday have the privilege of sharing a painting with you. (if I haven't already.) - Brad Smith
Brad's list of accomplishments is endless. He began painting and performing at the age of eleven. As a young man he gave drum lessons at a local music store and later, in Nashville, he worked as a studio musician, made TV and radio commercials, and co-produced record albums.
He was a junior college art teacher in Athens, Texas. As an artist, he has exhibited extensively and has won his share of awards. He has also completed mural commissions for several cities, as well as numerous businesses and residences.
But moving to Santa Fe had the most profound effect on his life and his art. For him, it was a vital transformation. His studio is a large, airy space with many windows and skylights, where there is one easel, a table, and a chair. Paintings in progress line the walls. There is no inventory of finished pieces, for the galleries snap up each painting soon as it is dry, and he can hardly keep up with the demand.
Santa Fe set him free to achieve his potential. There is so much creative energy there that is a constant inspiration. "My palette has become softer and brighter since I moved here," he observes. "I am able to paint exactly what I see without any effort, so I am limited only by my imagination."
What he sees, and what he imagines, is often a woman. She may be getting dressed and talking softly to her cat. Through the window is a seascape with the tide coming in, and on the table is a vase of flowers sent by an unknown love.
Always, there is a story - perhaps even an entire novel. A note on the table, a half-finished glass of wine, a cherished souvenir may furnish a clue, but never an explanation. The plot, the narrative, and the details are entirely up to the viewer.
Many collectors who experience this literary mystery ask Smith to create a personally meaningful painting just for them. They provide elements such as goblets or sunflowers, for instance, or they will ask him to move the figure to a table by the sea.
Frequently, they want their painting set in a particular spot in Santa Fe, or want to include a certain element such as the swan on the mantel at the Hotel St. Francis. Brad Smith is happy to honor such requests, but he especially enjoys commissions that involve Santa Fe, for it is here that he has found himself as an artist. It is his hopes that Vallarta will offer those same commissions.
Brad is attracted to Vallarta, as he was to Santa Fe. Many of his paintings are full of color and any artist who travels to Vallarta are enamored with the "light" in our fair city. Such as people who seek sun, and others ski slopes, painters travel in search of light.
Vallarta and Santa Fe have a lot of other similarities: both are romantic cities and both hold that same charm, that same creative energy, that same potential. New to Galleria Dante this season, Brad will be painting at the gallery this week, using local models for his studies.
For more information about this talented artist, and to view some of his works, click HERE.
Open Mon-Fri from 10 am-5 pm, Galeria Dante is located at Basilio Badillo 269 in Puerto Vallarta's Romantic Zone. For more information, call 222-2477, or send an email to info@galleriadante.com. To see some of the art work on display at Galeria Dante, visit GalleriaDante.com. |
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