About Jonathan Smith

I have always loved to paint since a child and art has always been a part of my life. I have not received any formal tuition and am fully self-taught, which has been a fascinating, often frustrating process but ultimately exhilarating. In recent years I have really being trying to hone my craft and develop the skills to create excellent paintings. I always paint in oil and work from photographs and skecthes. My inspiration is from the landscape around me - I live in the shadow of the Yorkshire Dales and spend my time wandering the moors and woods, looking for inspiration. Indeed, my home town of Otley was a source of inspiration for many of the Romantic painters, especially JMW Turner who regularly stayed at Farnley Hall. I am fascinated by the interaction of nature and people, and how the two forces shape and evolve with each other. The moors that inspire me are man-made creations but they are continuously evolving through natural processes. These same processes bear down on the man-made structures that partition and occupy space, such as farms, dry stone walls, plantations, roads. In my work I try to convey a sense of these processes continuing, especially via the weather which can be dramatic and powerful in this part of the world. But I also like to contrast this with pieces showing the world at rest and peace reflecting the mood that I am in during the creation of each piece. Each painting has a central motif - maybe a building, a tree form etc - and this provides the basis. But I also like to manipulate the surrounding forms and colours to better reflect my idea about the motif. So often my paintings are an amalgamation of ideas and forms that are captured in my memory. I have been selling locally for the past year or so and have exhibited in local art shows. I am currently in the early process of mounting an exhibition, probably with a local photographer but want to gain a greater reach and make my artwork available to a wider audience. From research and suggestions, Artfinder seemed like a good platform to allow this exposure.