On vacation in 1988, Glenn Smith bought a book on watercolor, and began copying the examples. Upon seeing this initial work, a gallery owner encouraged him to continue in art. He began participating in life drawing groups several times a week. Discovering his youthful interest in art still existed, he spent much of the next two years in workshops studying under renowned water media artists such as Catherine Chang Liu, Christopher Schink, Frank Webb, Irving Shapiro, Alex Powers, Jerry Seagle, Milford Zornes, Cletus Smith, Doug Walton, and Don Andrews.  Beginning in watercolor, he transitioned into acrylics, and now also paints en plein aire oils. In his drawings, he is proficient in both conte’ crayon and charcoal.

 Smith chooses to paint familiar subjects that evoke an emotional response in him. His paintings range from mood pieces such as the large watercolor, “A Small Town in Texas” ( a scene from his hometown of Electra, Texas), to portraits of his grandchildren. Other paintings are historical, painted to preserve an image of a vanishing institution, such as “Interior, Neff’s Blacksmithy”, or an individual and his symbolic worn hat in “The Horseman”. Some paintings are comments on society such as “Post-Industrial Landscape #1”, a simple plein aire study of cylinders that becomes symbolic to a viewer. In his paintings and drawings, Smith ambitiously strives to capture the “soul” of his subject (The Pipeliner, Young Woman w/ Crucifix), and, at the same time, create a work of art.