Richard C. Smith
15
Born in Kent, in the South of England, other than for short periods at various
points in his life, Smith never really ventured far from his native county. “I feel
at home, deep down in Kent,” he confides, “especially near the sea. I suppose
it is a bit special.” His story is one of ultimate triumph of the creative urge in
the face of what he refers to as its systematic “burying”, first by teachers and
then by the authorities, as well as its dimming and suppression by drug use
for many years. He had drawn for as long as he can remember, even continu-
ing to “dabble”, as he puts it, during the fallow years. Then, around the age of
forty, things began to change. He made a choice to engage directly once more
with life as it had been when he was young, born of a realisation that there
was a seed of something creative inside. The intuition was strong and de-
manded attention. And, gradually, over about a decade, and much to his own
amazement, he found himself devoted entirely to art. “I like to work in day-
light,” he says, “I shut off after that. Occasionally I draw under electric light,
but the drawings look totally different the day after. I can’t get the same tense-
ness with the false light.” He works every day, rising around 5am, eats break-
fast and looks at his works in progress: “The figures are sort of beckoning me:
‘come on, finish your breakfast, and get on with me,’” he smiles.
Colin Rhodes
March 2014
Professor Colin Rhodes is Dean of Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney
and author of Outsider Art: Spontaneous Alternatives

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