About Richard smith

Born in Cranbrook, BC, Richard spent the first 17 years of his life as a military child living in such diverse locations as France, Quebec and Northern Alberta. As a child, he had a natural love for art and loved drawing, painting and making things with his hands.

When the family finally settled on Vancouver Island on BC's South Coast, Richard finished high school and then attended Malaspina College in Nanaimo. Among many classes he explored, it was sculpture that interested him most. Richard then transferred to the University of Victoria, where he became a Fine Arts student, majored in sculpture, and worked primarily in steel. In 1976, he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.​

Over the years, Rick has dabbled in everything from glass work and fired clay to bronze sculpture and oil on canvas and panel paintings. Many of Richard’s works are in the collections of art lovers across North America. 

On the sculpture front, after several years creating figurative and abstract bronzes fired in his own foundry, Richard returned to his first love; steel. He previously created large outdoor pieces made for both public art displays and for adorning many gardens and scenic landscapes. As of 2023, Rick has focused solely on painting acrylic abstract seascapes on canvas or panel.

Richard has participated in several art shows over the past three decades, including Gorge on Art (participated nearly every year since its inception), Saanich Scattered Artists Tour, Moss St. Paint-In, Saanich Municipal Hall, Arts Centre at Cedar Hill Recreation Centre, Esquimalt Arts Festival, Esquimalt, Urban Arts Tour, ArtsAlive Oak Bay, Sculpture Splash at Macaulay Point, Sidney Sculpture Walk, Victoria Art Gallery Winter and Summer Works shows, and the Sooke Fine Arts Show.

When he’s not creating art by sketching endless ideas in numerous sketch books (some dating back to 1972), or painting, Rick can be found poring over art history books and magazines, art videos, reading science-fiction novels, and exploring southern Vancouver Island for creative inspiration.