Todd Smith at the Gorge White House

(Hood River Landscape by Todd Smith)

Mostly retired from a 30-year career as an architectural illustrator, Todd is finding in the Gorge area fascinating and challenging subject matter for his painting. After using watercolor as a primary medium for so many years, he has found his true love in oil painting.

The Gorge area offers an immense variety of painting subjects to stimulate his creativity, from dramatic cliffs and water in many forms to farms and historically chararacterful urban architecture.

He began enjoying the qualities of oil paints in the early ‘90s as a balance to his commercial illustration. Inspiration to try oils came from decades earlier when, at art school, he had admired the work of fine art painting students with whom he was living while he obtained a transportation design degree.

But it was a long journey to arrive at oil painting. For a number of years early in his career he was an automobile designer. He then left to obtain an MFA in ceramic sculpture. He also spent several years teaching drawing, color sketching, graphic design and product design at Arizona State University.

Today, Todd relishes the opportunity to share his responses to all the visual stimulants present in this prime scenic area.

Todd Smith

(Todd's work will be at the The Gorge White House, (2265 Hwy 35, Hood River, OR 97031, 541-386-2828) throughout the entire month of September and he is also currently showing at Columbia Art Gallery and The Pourhouse in Hood River)