Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Smith.
Hi Jeff, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m an abstract expressionist artist living in Kingwood with my wife Sebrina, and our pug, Lenny. My art focuses on the conflict of color and texture, and finding a resolution to that conflict within the canvas. I work in the digital realm, generally painting in Adobe Fresco on my iPad Pro. I create my pieces at very high resolution so they can be printed as large as needed, up to 10 feet or more.
I’ve pursued creative expression throughout my life. Growing up, my family kind of expected that I’d become a fine artist. While most families are wary of a career in art, my uncle is Robert Rector, a well-known abstract artist with works installed in museums and galleries around the world (His work can be seen in Houston at Gremillion & Co. gallery). Robert taught me art at a very young age and gave me quality support and constructive criticism throughout the years. My mother also supported me in all of my creative endeavors.
In high school and college, I created graphic design for newspaper ads, local businesses and t-shirt companies. But as a twenty-something, I soured on the art-as-commerce path and lost all interest in being an artist as my career
Instead, I set my sights on filmmaking and moved to Los Angeles. Over the next 14 years, I wrote, produced, edited and/or directed productions for various networks and studios, including 20th Century Fox, Paramount, CBS, Disney and MGM. It was a really fun time and I got to work on some amazing movies and TV shows.
Art and design would occasionally come up in a film or TV project, and during my time in Los Angeles, I won numerous Broadcast Design Awards for the look and design of my productions. I also got the honor of creating special on-air content for the 1999 Academy Awards.
In 2006, after retiring from the entertainment industry and moving to Houston, I began rediscovering my love of fine art through the new medium of digital art. This renewed passion for fine art was suggested to me and encouraged by my wife.
My art is intended to convey emotion and beauty, conflict and release. Not from familiar imagery, but from colors, shapes and textures themselves. While the canvas as a whole should convey a general sense of emotion, explaining what I intended should be irrelevant. We all have different worldviews and experiences, so the colors and textures will stir feelings in each viewer that is unique to them. Learning how others interpret what I create brings me great joy, and can ultimately inform my own understanding of my creations.
I’ve been working on NFT projects since last summer and I’m currently creating a Pop Art NFT project inspired by Roy Lichtenstein and James Rosenquist.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Anything worth doing is never a smooth road, and choosing a life in the creative arts poses a lot of challenges, especially during times between projects. But I have a strong, loving wife and faith in God, which has helped me through the struggles.
Of course, trying to break into the entertainment industry is a struggle for anyone who attempts it, and that was true for me as well. But I try to look at every obstacle as a way to challenge myself. That, combined with my ability to work harder than I should, helped me rise to success in a tough business.
And now, striving for success as a fine artist is another challenge, and I’m really enjoying the ride.
But the biggest struggle by far was dealing with my wife’s health. Many years ago, Sebrina nearly died when lupus began attacking her central nervous system. With no family in California to help us through the ordeal, we realized it was time to move closer to our family. I retired from show business and we moved to Houston shortly after that. There is no cure for Lupus, so she still struggles, but thankfully she’s doing much better now.
I think it’s important to always look at challenges and obstacles as opportunities for growth and learning. They’re not fun to deal with, but when you look back on them, you can see how they’ve helped you move to the next level and feel proud that you didn’t let it crush you.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Talking about art – especially abstract art – can be complicated. How do I put into words all the emotion and the broad aspirational hope within an artistic work? On the one hand, I want to help the viewer get the most out of what I’ve created. I believe it’s part of my job as an artist to guide the viewer toward the tension and ultimate resolution I convey in my paintings. I have definite reasons for everything that is or isn’t reflected on the canvas.
On the other hand, one of the beautiful parts of abstract art is that the signal I send isn’t necessarily the same message the viewer receives. There is inherent beauty in the idea that while I can convey chaos and resolution, and the viewer can perceive chaos and beauty, it could be two entirely different interpretations existing within the same artistic work.
My process is somewhat unique. For each piece, I create 6-12 disparate drawings, paintings, photos and gradients and layer them onto one high-resolution digital canvas. This creates a painting filled with conflict and competition. I then begin editing and filtering the various layers to find the harmony (or intentional contrast) in the painting.
This yin and yang of conflict and resolution is always evident in every component of the paintings, from colors to themes to textures to shapes.
I intend my paintings to be reminiscent of waves crashing on rocks. There is nothing as violent and chaotic as the crashing waves themselves, but the picture and sounds taken as a whole are calming. Within my paintings, the movement, colors and shapes all work together to bring a pleasing emotion, even though the sharp shapes and spraying, chaotic colors still show the violence behind the peaceful scene.
My main influences are abstract expressionism, color field and pop art. They drive my love of bright, bold colors and emotional expression. Some critics deride these schools, suggesting they are devoid of feeling. But I find powerful emotion and authenticity in abstract and pop art, more so than in any other school. Warhol’s obsession with American consumerism, rather than being shallow, is the reflection of the abundance of post-war America–a miracle to an immigrant boy from Poland.
I’m grateful I have the opportunity to express myself through art and that people have responded positively to what I create. Each day that I am able to pursue my passion brings renewed excitement for me.
How do you think about luck?
I’m not big into crediting luck – good or bad – with having much effect, outside of the fact that I was lucky enough to be born into a loving family in America. All the people I’ve ever known who were successful put themselves in a position to be lucky through hard work. Some people might say that’s easy for me to say, but I was reared by a single mother in Mississippi. When I went to Los Angeles, I knew no one and had no connections, but I succeeded there through hard work and using my talents the best I could. I’ve had challenges, just as we all do, but the harder I work, the more opportunities present themselves and more “luck” comes my way.
Pricing:
- Digital Paintings: $750 – $5,000+
- Commissions: $3,500+
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetjeffsmith
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/meetjeffsmith
