About

Stuart makes drawings and printing plates outside in remote rural sites. Frequently returning to the same places, he forges a close familiarity with each particular location.

Physical elements of the landscape are used as part of the process and often as the medium for the work. He draws with pigment extracted from earth and makes stains and dyes from wild plants. Mud and organic plant material are stuck to the paper or printing plate. Sticks and stones are used to scratch and incise the surface. This use of natural, native materials to create the work helps to establish a direct physical and empathetic relationship with his environment.

In his working practice he aims to stay true to a philosophy of minimal intervention, conscious of the impact his activity may have on the environment. The imagery is developed as a consequence of this sensitive interaction with natural elements. It is also determined by an instinctive and spontaneous response to variations in weather and light, and to seasonal temporality: the transience of nature. His work is an expression of his direct experience of being in these places. Not only is it specific to place but also strictly specific to time.

Stuart studied for his BA degree Fine Art at The University of Hertfordshire before graduating from Camberwell College of Arts, London with an MA in Fine Art Printmaking.

Cholesbury Hill Fort, Chiltern Hills. August 2021. - Drawing and printing with earth, wood rot, moss, beech leaves and leaf litter.

Please contact me directly for commissions or to enquire about purchasing my work.

stuartsmithartist@gmail.com

Exhibitions

2022 → The Environment, Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield, South Yorkshire 
Art from the Heart, Artist of the Month
Courtyard Open 2022, Hertford, Herts
Essence, Purposeful Mayonnaise, TPM gallery

2021 Monochrome, Nude Tin Can, St Albans, Herts
Wirksworth Festival, Wirksworth, Derbyshire 
Gelbersessel, Nature, Online exhibition
PTM, Online exhibition 

2005 Sketch, Rabley Contemporary Drawing Centre, London 
About the Chilterns, Buckinghamshire County Museum, Aylesbury 

2003 Dundee Contemporary Print Show, Dundee

2002 London International Print Biennale, London

2001 Eastern Open, Kings Lynn Arts Centre, Norfolk
Eastern Open, The Place, Letchworth, Herts
Art Works, Ernst and Young, Luton, Beds

2000 From the Edge, Atrium Gallery, London

1999 Solo Exhibition, The Hanging Space, London
Group Show, Barnet Spires, London

Residencies / Study

2022 Artist in Residence
Mawddach Residency, Arthog, Gwynedd, UK

2005 Printmaking Fellowship
Digswell Arts Trust, Welwyn, Herts, UK

2004 Artist in Residence
Centre d’Art I Ecologist d’Abella De La Concha, Catalunya, Spain

1999/2001 Camberwell School of Art
MA Printmaking 

1996/1999 University of Hertfordshire       
BA Fine Art (1st Class Hons.)

1995/1996 Watford School of Art
Access Course in Art and Design