Painting the animals and landscapes of Yellowstone National Park
is a labor of love for Wyoming
native George Dee Smith. Smith and his
twin brother, Francis Lee, spent endless days and weeks in the wilderness of
the park from the time that they were young boys. Working with horses and biking in the
Absaroka Wilderness were also favorite pastimes. A former architect turned full-time landscape
painter, Smith, now married and the father of two adult children, still spends
30 to 40 days a year in the rugged back country which he has come to know so
well. These annual trips into his
beloved Yellowstone provide Smith not only
with subject matter for his luminous paintings, but are mentally and
spiritually restorative as well.
George Dee Smith cites Adolph Spore and Edward T.
Greigware as major influences on his artistic development. Russell, Koerner, Remington and Wyeth have
also been influential, yet he has managed to craft a very personal style which
is, first and foremost, informed by his close association with nature and his
deep love for the animals and landscape of Yellowstone National Park. Smith has often said that he was born 100
years too late as he feels such a deep affinity for the life of the mountain
man and the cowboy. The American wapiti
and the American bison are favorite subjects.
Smith’s extremely fine brushwork and wonderful use of color, together
with his knowledge of animal anatomy, bring these creatures to life and provide
a marvelous record of a timeless part of the American experience.
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