Acrylic, plaster & shellac on canvas, 20" x 10"

Over the last few years, I have continually revisited the imagery found in this work. Within each composition, a stagnant subject is silhouetted against a turbulent sky. These stoic icons defy the situations in which they find themselves placed, and I am drawn to that resolve. When I look at these works, I see tumult and tranquility. These are seemingly two conflicting states, yet one cannot exist without the other. Moments of each punctuate our lives and serve as the setting for existence. With each investigation, I have sought to hone the communication of this idea. For me, these works reflect the moment in which you realize you cannot control the conditions around you. You can only control your response to them.

Since earning his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arkansas in 1998, L. Eric Smith III has been a fine arts faculty member and the art collection manager at NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, AR. A native of Joplin, MO, Smith received his Bachelor of Arts from Missouri Southern State University and has resided in Fayetteville, AR since, 1995.
He has exhibited his mixed media work in solo and group exhibitions regionally and nationally. His work is also part of many private collections and the permanent collections at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock, AR, the Arts and Science Center in Pine Bluff, AR and the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, AR.