“I don’t like clichés,” says Western artist Brett James Smith. He recognizes that his chosen genre is replete with familiar tropes: the backlit pastoral scene, the regal Native American chief, the faithful dog, the sunlit brook, the swaggering cowboy. Although you will find those landscapes and figures in Smith’s portfolio, he is determined to paint them in such a way that you won’t mistake his work for anyone else’s.
“I’m always looking for a fresher look at any subject,” he says. “My number one priority is to do things that haven’t been done, or at least to bring something new to the art world.”
For Smith, much of the traditional subject matter of Western art is deeply personal, and his lived experience informs the authenticity he brings to his work. He came of age wandering the woods and wetlands of his native Louisiana, looking for fish to catch, or birds to hunt, or good, wholesome trouble to get into. He wasn’t sketching or taking pictures or notes, but he was certainly gathering memories and impressions that would infuse his work later in life.
Read the full article in the September/October 2025 issue.
Canyon Creek
oil on linen
20″ by 16″
River Camp
oil on linen
24″ by 36″
