Photo by Pete Newsome
Some painters find a theme or medium and stick to it; others decide to widen their horizon line (to borrow a term from the art world). Billy Smith of Brevard, long known for his vivid portraiture, was commissioned late last year to paint a mural on the 11,000-square-foot PharmAgra Labs building at 158 McLean Road in Brevard.
Bold Life caught up with him about six weeks into the project. “The owners wanted the design to be reminiscent of old alchemy-style paintings,” explains Smith. “The image depicts a scientist/alchemist bonding an atom.”
His figurative works on canvas and wood are sweeping in scale, color, and emotional intensity, and Smith brings the same chemistry to his goals for 2018. “I have always enjoyed painting larger than life,” he says. “I never want to be coined as a one-trick pony. I love to challenge myself just so I don’t get stuck inside a stylistic box, and would like to be commissioned more — with no stipulation on what type of work can be created.”
For more information, see lucky7btk.wixsite.com/new-art-domain or follow the artist on Facebook at Billy Art Smith (or friends of the PharmAgra mural) and on Instagram: billysmith378.
