Plein Air, Swiftsure Lightboat at MOHAI, midday, 4.9-12.24

watercolor, 42 x 30 x 1, 2024, $3000

My priority is to draw or paint a subject as well as I can. I find inspiration in the world around me, welcoming challenging opportunities to see and do things I’ve not done before. Through close observation, my work will never reach arrival, only discovery. Visual art is my primary way of learning, of creating visions of what is possible. To do this effectively requires discipline and patience. My art is temporal, as I am constantly absorbing new information. I am grateful to have art as communication for a shared human experience.

David Orrin Smith has been drawing and painting his entire life. In 1999, at age 13, David was admitted to adult life drawing sessions at the Seattle Academy of Fine Art (now Gage), a formative experience establishing figure work as a fixture in his art, studying with Gary Faigin and Tony Ryder. From 2004-2008 he continued his art study at Dartmouth College, and from 2008-2011 at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. His work has won numerous awards and recognitions and can be found in museums, galleries, and private collections.