Travelling and living in both India and Australia made Norman acutely aware of the intensity of colours and for him it was the beginning of the development of his strong and more vibrant palette. Norman constantly  explores the use of colour,  trying to understand how colours interact in relation to each other.  "One simple stroke will sometimes change a painting, yet it takes for ever to discover that stroke".    

Norman Smith is an elected member of the Pastel Society and has regular solo exhibitions in London and England.   His work can be found in collections world-wide.

Born in 1949, Norman was brought up in Berkshire although he was born into a farming family, he decided to study Art and Design in Bristol.  This led to a teaching qualification in 1970, and various teaching posts followed.  In 1974 Norman and his wife Iona travelled overland to India and the Far East and on to Australia where he taught for three years, returning to Oxfordshire he continued teaching until his decision to become a full-time painter in 1987. Norman lives and works in the heart of the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside where, on a good day, the view extends to the five surrounding English counties. 

The landscape where he lives undoubtedly feeds the ideas that underpin Norman’s paintings, but he is more than a landscape painter.  His paintings are visually exciting and the process of applying the paint is a physical and passinate one.  Whether oil or pastel he energetically and quickly applies solid patches of pure colour in thick layers, creating colour contrasts and the changing light on water, land or a seagulls wing.   Norman’s  over-riding consideration is to create a sense of atmosphere and drama that is palpable, this is the ultimate goal of the painting.     Travelling and living in both India and Australia made him acutely aware of the intensity of colours and for Norman was the beginning of the development of a strong and more vibrant palette, twenty-five years later he is still learning about colour and brushstrokes.    In the early years Norman was well know for his pastel paintings but in recent years Norman has become more absorbed in painting with oil, turning his attention to the very different and more absorbing discipline of oil painting.