Column 10
[Column Title] "The Heart of Art"

"Sculptor Geoffrey Smith"
by
Nan DeVincent-Hayes, Ph.D

        It's one thing to view a great blue heron from afar, guestimating its towering height and wing
  span, the size of its beak; but it's another thing to view it up close, look it in the eye, analyze its
  color, feel its shape. Geoffrey Smith, wildlife sculptor, allows you to do just this because he
  creates not only in miniature or maquette form but also in half-life and actual life sizes that put
  you right next to his art-of-reality. Not only is this true for his bronze heron, but his Brown 
  Pelicans, mangroves, leaping trout, wild buffalos, angry-looking warthogs, and other sculptures,
  also pulsate with the power of reality in color, texture, and form. In fact, he is one of the foremost
  sculptors who molds anatomical structures with flawless exactness, capturing the animal's inherent
  grace, spirit, and character--something he learned from years of joining and watching wildlife in
  their natural habitat. 
        This love of wilderness originated when Geoffrey's father took him--as a child--on hunting
  trips in the San Francisco Bay area. And although he graduated in 1983 from Montana State
  University, with honors, Smith had truly studied art much earlier in life when he learned how to
  carve duck decoy from wood, and later clay, which led him to enter sculpting contests at the
  encouragement of his family. Over the years, he's honed his style from first-hand observation,
  including deep sea diving to capture the essence of a Green Sea Turtle. His impressionistic, 
  almost flaccid form, manages to seize the native energy of his creatures and bound it up in each
  artform so that when viewers look at it, they're instantly catapulted into the animal's world,
  surging with the thrill of its keen sight, awesome hearing, unparalled tasting and smelling. And
  suddenly we're soaring on wings of massive birds, sprinting on hooves of stampeding giraffes,
  gliding on fins of Bottlenose dolphins, or grabbing stripes on backs of thundering zebras. One
  can actually feel the feathers of his sculptured birds, see the minute webbing of their feet, behold
  the veins and vessels in their beaks. And his thorough documentation of wildlife allows visitors to
  accurately discern the actual colors of his animals, and errlessly determine their height, weight, and
  strength, along with surmising their food sources, habitats, and survival mechanics.
         His other works include such fine sculptures as: the 49" tall "Against the Wind" which
  features a pair of rich brown bronze life-size mallards cutting the wind for a landing; five life-size
  quails reaching three feet in height, and titled "Bobwhite Ballet" in a limited edition of 36; a 
  six-by-six bull elk running with cow and calf; a coppery brown lion in an edition of 100; a 28"
  high bald eagle; a 19" high running retriever with bird in its mouth" in an edition of 48; and
  "Leaping Sailfish & the Dolphinfish" in a limited edition of 48, with a highly polished lavish blue
  and green patina that melds into its natural spiral design.
        In addition to his compassion for art, Smith is also a devout conservationist who volunteers
  in fundraising and helping African game wardens protect the limited vestiges of the Black Rhinos.
  So when not in Zaire, or the Everglades, his Billings studio sculpting, Yellowstone Valley, or the
  wetlands and the wilds, he can be found in the historic Carlin Hotel that he renovated in 1991 as a
  combined studio-gallery. His major collectors consist of Zoo Montana for "Life Size Trumpeter
  Swan," Billings International Airport for "Life Size Sandhill Cranes" and for President Bush,
  "Eagle Study." His commissions include "Twice Life Size Mountain Lion and Three Cubs" for a
  private collector, "Life Size Pronghorn Antelope" and "Five Life Size Canadian Geese" for
  Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, among others. He's also been featured in a
  number of magazines and books, and has won several awards.
        Smith's work can be found in leading galleries internationally. Just viewing one of his
  sculptures is akin to being transported to a woodland and forest, a mountain stream, swampy
  wetland, or an arid savannah where dark-haired, mustached Smith awaits your presence to
  eagerly take you on tour.
  Nan DeVincent-Hayes, Ph.D. is a former executive director of a high end art gallery.
  All Material is copyrighted ©; do not reproduce any part of this or any other materials on this
 website without the permission of the author at ndhayes@att.net or 410-543-9019.