douglas brent smith

One More Cosmic Landscape -- painting by Douglas Brent Smith, acrylic, 12 x 16, December 1973. Here are two previous views of the same painting, photos that are at an angle. Discards, sure, but also interesting:   One More Cosmic Landscape -- painting by Douglas Brent Smith, acrylic, 12 x 16, December 1973. Here's a cropped photo of the same painting. I couldn't figure out how to rotate it but I like seeing it at this angle. 

  With Every Available Device -- painting by Douglas Brent Smith, December 1976. This is another of the series of acrylic paintings that I did in Oak Lawn, IL, living with Mom and Jack for a brief few months. My favorite art movement is surrealism, and this one clearly emulates the work of the surrealists, in particular Yves Tanguy .  When I moved from Colorado to Newtown in 2016 I threw away a number of my paintings, many from this period of time. I did not like them enough to keep them, I guess although I feel some regret at heaving them, one can't save everything and I live in an apartment that's about 600 square feet. No real storage room. This one survived the cut.  

 87th Place Oak Lawn, Ilinois -- painting by Douglas Brent Smith, 1977. I lived with my mother for a brief time in 1977. My girlfriend at the time, Annie, wanted to escape herself to Florida (haven't seen her since) and so she plotted with my mom for me to move to Oak Lawn. The first gift my mom gave me there was a blue T-shirt that said "Wellinthehellis Oak Lawn, IL?".  Jack, Mom's husband, was mostly on the road working but when he was home he'd often give mom a hard time so she wanted me there to calm things down. Jack and I got along great but he was an alcoholic and would hit mom -- but not when I was there, which was why I was there.  After I returned to New Jersey Mom would eventually have Jack arrested and Jack straightened up. He stopped drinking. He became safe and loving. They had some happy years together. This painting is a self-portrait. I was blessed with lots of time so I painted. Gosh, how I loved painting. I used acrylics because they dried fast....

  This could be a first draft. It's a doodle becoming something. We might need to stare at it for awhile to determine what it wants to become. It could be done. It could be changing. I scanned this present state since once it is changed (if it is changed) the original will stop existing.  "Do you like it?" "I think so. Enough not to destroy it." "Fair enough." Jump Close - sketch by douglas brent smith, March, 2026 Not done yet... I played with this a bit more. Let's call this one "Jump Closer" (3 April 2026) and watch it change. When I was a child I remember a feature in the Sunday newspaper funnies -- it was either in the Philadelphia Bulletin or the Philadelphia Inquirer. If it was in the Bulletin, I read the whole paper at home because we subscribed. If it was in the Inquirer, I read it at Grandmom and Grandpop Smith's house. We went there every Sunday, without fail, after church and after our early dinner.  I treasured those Sund...

  Still Going Up? -- mixed media, collage by douglas brent smith, 1998, from Journal #33, Life In Progress. NOTES: Usually, I crop the spiral binding out of the picture. This time I decided to leave it in and show the whole page. It provides some idea of what each of the journals from this period are like. Big pages and many of them. The clip art that makes guest appearances is primitive, sure, but maybe a little charming, too?

  Going Up? collage, mixed media by douglas brent smith, from Journal #33, Life In Progress, 1998