TUCKER SMITH
Well known as a nature and wildlife artist, Tucker Smith was born in 1940 in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1952 he and his family moved to Pinedale, Wyoming.

Tucker graduated from Pinedale High School in 1958 and received a B.S. degree from the University of Wyoming in 1963, with a major in mathematics and a minor in art.

After working eight years as a computer programmer and systems analyst for the State of Montana, he began painting full time in 1971.

Tucker and his wife, Jean, returned to live on the Hoback Rim, 30 miles north of Pinedale, Wyoming in 1993. Their home is at the foot of the Wind River Mountains from which he draws inspiration.

© The Greenwich Workshop, 1994 Displayed at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma		"Return of Summer" oil on linen 30 x 42 inches

TUCKER SMITH ON ART
I believe the purpose of art is to enhance people's lives through decoration, stimulation of intellect, association with personal experiences, and provocation of romantic or other conceptions. A legitimate means for artists to achieve these purposes is by depicting nature.

In today's high-tech and complicated world many people have little contact with the natural world. However, we are all inseparably linked to it. Art depicting wildlife and nature reminds us of the importance of it to our soul and psyche.

In painting nature, I try to be faithful to the actual while concentrating on the elements that attracted me to the scene. I try to avoid monotony in a composition.

Inspiration is one of the defining elements of art. All the technique in the world won't make an inspired work of fine art. An important component of inspiration is the desire to share. The subject matter I choose is what I am interested in and for which I have passion.

Some think that to be creative one must invent the new. However, to be obsessed with rebelling against the established can inhibit creative observation, just as thoughtlessly adhering to the established inhibits creativity.

Personally, art has broadened my interests and helped me to see the not-so-obvious. One of the greatest attributes of art is that one does not need to be a painter or sculptor to participate. One only needs to observe.

~ Tucker Smith