Matt Smith has been selling his paintings since the early ‘80s, when he was just 17, but when asked when he realized that he really was an artist, he laughs and says, “I don’t know that I am yet. I know I’m a painter, but I don’t know if I’ve graduated to really being an artist. I’m continually trying to improve and take it to the next level.”

Smith’s paintings have earned him inclusion in several prestigious art shows, including the Prix de West and Masters of the American West, and are eagerly sought after by art enthusiasts from around the world. But Smith is a modest man, committed to creating the best paintings possible and, in the process, to sharing the beauty and wonder of landscape scenes from the California coast to the Arizona desert to the Colorado Mountains.

Born in Missouri and now living next door to Tonto National Forest, outside Scottsdale, Arizona, Smith says he often jumps on his Polaris Sportsman and heads into the almost 3-million-acre area, “looking for paintings.”

Matt Smith

Early March Under Sheep Mountain
Oil
16″x20″
“This was one of the first studio works I completed after a recent trip to southwestern Colorado. We timed this particular trip around a fresh snowfall, followed by clear skies. Our patience paid off, as we had a week of perfect conditions.”

Matt Smith

Saguaros of Coronado Mesa
Oil
16″x12″
“I spend quite a bit of time painting in and around the Superstitions, southeast of my Arizona home. It’s the Sonoran Desert at its best and offers a real variety of subject matter. In this particular piece, I enjoyed the way the Saguaros cast those dark shadows back toward that front-lit cliff.”