Catalina: The Wild Side Artist of the Week: Matt Smith

2013-06-03
Catalina Island Conservancy

Once again, Matt Smith returns to the Island for the 2013 Catalina: The Wild Side Art Show and Sale, scheduled for June 21-22, at the Catalina Island Country Club.

Smith was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1960 and moved to Arizona at a young age. He later moved to Europe, where he lived in France and Switzerland. Smith has also painted in Germany, Austria and Italy, but has spent most of his life in Arizona, where he has a deep attachment and respect for the Sonoran Desert.

He graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting. Smith studied the traditional styles of landscape masters such as Maynard Dixon, William Herbert Dunton and Edgar Payne.

Smith can often be found painting plein air from southern Arizona to the Canadian Rockies, the California coast to the mountains of Colorado. He says he is especially inspired by the untouched landscapes of the American West.

Catalina: The Wild Side Art Show and Sale
Eleven nationally acclaimed plein air artists will display their interpretations of Catalina's rugged wildlands as well as Avalon and Two Harbors at the Catalina: The Wild Side Art Show and Sale on June 21-22. The art-filled weekend will begin with a special Artists Preview Dinner on June 21, the Friday evening before the show, at a private residence in Avalon, Catalina Island. The afternoon of Saturday, June 22, the show – featuring more than 100 plein air paintings – will take place at the Catalina Island Country Club, followed by an optional prix fixe dinner. Tickets for the show and the dinners are available online.