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Richard Lee Smith Jr. is a Fine Art Photographer and American Postwar & Contemporary Mark-expressionist painter known for his undercurrent of spiritual commentary and personal growth. Born in 1975, Dallas, Texas.

Biography
Smith pursued his formal education at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), a renowned independent art school where he obtained his BFA degree in 1997. Established as one of the oldest and most prestigious art schools in the United States, SFAI has attracted numerous influential artists who have shaped the future of art, culture, and society. SFAI's list of notable alumni and faculty members include luminaries such as Ansel Adams, John Hultberg, Don Ed Hardy, Jerry Garcia, Spike Jonze, Devendra Banhart, Annie Leibovitz, and Mark Rothko. SFAI gave Smith training in traditional western art and history, which has influenced his unique style and quality

of work.

Living, working in Dallas and Los Angeles during his career, and currently Taos, New Mexico. Smiths paintings and drawings examine the untethered ethereality, mining the forms and methods of mark-making, sacred geometry, and hieroglyphics, a depiction of interstellar landscapes and veritas. Observing nature, learning from animals, and studying natures various elements. Gives Smith a unique perspective on the inter-linkages between human emotion and the natural world giving his artwork a distinct depth. He conveys his innermost understandings and emotions through an application of paint with energetic intention, layering shapes and marks, creating beacons that reflects who he is and his reality. His photographs explore a similar terrain, dissolving traditional representation to reach elusive spiritual experiences.

Smiths' art echoes and reiterates that a painting can be viewed as a window into the soul, giving visibility to emotions and energies that may otherwise go unnoticed. His work is a fascinating amalgamation of beauty, nature, spirituality and human emotion making his distinct marks on the art world.