Biography Of
ALAN SMITH
ARTIST/SCULPTOR
Alan Smith, age 42, was born February 20, 1956 in the small town of Sabetha, Kansas. At the tender age of 3 months he and his family moved to Mansfield, Missouri, and this was to be the first of many moves in his very early life. His parents were divorced when he was very small. His mother became the sole provider and caregiver for four boys. His mother Jewell Smith is a very strong and independent individual and never re-married. The boys were all brought up with a great deal of respect for individuality and through her diligence she was to become the Director of Public Libraries for the city of Springfield, Mo. She worked at this until her retirement from this position, and then became director of the Wilson Creek Battlefield Foundation in Springfield, where she retired again,and is now fully retired and spends her time traveling and reading.
Having been raised to be self sufficient, mirroring his mothers independence Alan left his home when he was eighteen years old and struck off on his own. Loving camping and the peace found in the quite solitude of the hills, and mountains of the Ozarks. Often hiking and camping for extended periods of two months or more he spent his time searching his own soul and dreaming of doing what he hoped would be his life in the field of art. This is when he first began…whittling…carving…honing his knowledge of wood and each species characteristics in response to the knife and chisel. Creating first things for his own amusement, then later for friends and loved ones. After about 5 years of this primitive living and solitude a grown and mature man emerged to begin his place in society and the world of artisans, poets, painters and sculptors.
The emergence of the artist was no accident, apparently it runs through his genetic make up with two brothers being artists/painters as well, and Alan has become a well recognized artist in the field of sculpturing.
Alan presently resides on the outskirts of the little mountain community of Gainesville, Missouri living as before, remotely on a 30acre tract, but many things have changed. He now has a loved one who has become his constant companion, and she too loves what he does, and fully supports, and encourages him in his endeavors. Janice (Jan) and Alan are lovers of BIG CATS, cats in general, dogs, and all other creatures that live in natures wild and wonderful world. They presently have two beautiful Mountain Lions (Cougars), as well as a Texas Swift Fox, along with their dog Hawk,( half wolf/ half chow )and numerous other cats that seem to come and go at will. One of the Cougars was obtained as a small kitten, and the other was rescued from a home where it had been badly treated and abused.
Alan still loves the outdoors. Hiking and camping with one of his brothers, he spends fewer extended periods than he did as a young man, and Jan too loves the hiking, but is not particularly fond of primitive living so does not go on the longer over night hikes.
Seldom do you find this type of Artistic talent, but here, in this small community we that know him are proud to call him a friend, and we claim him as our own. Alan has been walking the woods and selecting the materials (Hickory, Walnut, Sassafras, Cedar and others) for many years. He has studied and worked, until he had tuned his deep love of, and respect for nature. I personally, for the short time I have been here, always admired his works. I have known many fine artists in the past, and have been since childhood, enthralled by the abilities of these people so gifted to bring pleasure to what otherwise would be a sterile, and mundane world. Alan Smith is such a person. He takes from nature a piece of wood, raw, lifeless, and in his eyes sees the beauty that lies there. Grains, swirls, and burls are subtlety captured by the artists eye, invoking a feeling of warmth and coyness in the works titled "A LADY WRAPPED IN ROSES', and "SUMMER BREEZE". From the same piece could easily come the graceful lines such as, ''DOLPHINS IN ECSTASY", or lend strength to the majestic bison portrayed in, "BOSS OF THE PRAIRIE''.
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