James Edward "Ted" Smith (1933–2016) was a painter from Kamloops, B.C., Canada. He was known for his abstract landscape paintings of the region.Smith, Ted; Smith, Ted; Neville, Charo; Boulet, Roger (2014). Ted Smith. Kamloops Art Gallery. Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada: Kamloops Art Gallery.
Early life and education Smith was born in Vernon, B.C. to Alma Louisa Smith (née Johnson) and James Alexander Smith."James Smith Obituary (2016) - Kamloops This Week". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2025-04-18.Millar, Lissa (2008). "A Life in Colour". Currents. pp. 12–14. He grew up in Lumby, Barriere, and then Kamloops, B.C. After graduating high school, Smith worked for several years for Canadian National Railway. He also attended Victoria College from 1952 to 1953 and the University of British Columbia from 1954 to 1955.
In 1960, Smith enrolled at the Vancouver School of Art.A catalogue of the exhibition Juried Exhibition. Kamloops Art Gallery. 1995. He decided to begin art school on the advice of William Geddes, an industrial psychologist at Victoria College.Chrumka, Jennifer (2 July 2014). "An interview with landscape artist Ted Smith". CBC. Retrieved 18 April 2025. During his time at VSA, he studied sculpture, design, drawing, and painting with teachers including Orville Fischer, Jack Shadbolt, Donald Jarvis, Roy Kiyooka, Peter Aspell, Fred Amess, and Reg Holmes. He graduated with a diploma in painting in 1964.
Career After art school, Smith moved back to Kamloops, where he lived and painted from his mobile home until his death in 2016. He was represented by the Oasis Gallery in Kamloops, the Bridge Street Gallery in Vancouver,Ted Smith: Three Decades of Colour. Kamloops Art Gallery. 1992. and the Art Ark gallery in Kelowna."Ted Smith, Kelowna BC". www.gobc.ca. Retrieved 2025-04-19. After the Art Ark closed, Ted's work was promoted locally by the Kamloops community.
His work was featured many times at the Kamloops Art Gallery in both solo and group exhibits.Keegan, Trish, ed. (1998). Changing Spirits: Canadian Art of the 1960s and 70s. Kamloops Art Gallery. p. 26. His works have been exhibited alongside those of A.Y. Jackson, Ann Kipling, Toni Onley, and Jack Shadbolt, among others. His paintings were known for the use of colours and shapes,"Kamloops painter's career covered at KAG". ArmchairMayor.ca. 2014-06-06. Retrieved 2025-04-19 and for their association with lyrical abstractionKlassen, Andrea (3 July 2014). "Art history from city walls". Kamloops This Week. Retrieved 18 April 2025. and modernism. He cites Shadbolt, Jarvis, and Nicolas de Staël as influences on his style. As a regular fishing companion of Kamloops fly fisherman Jack Shaw, Smith spent much time on the lakes around Kamloops.Shaw, Ralph (2008). The Pleasure of His Company: the fishing diaries of Jack Shaw. Courtney, Canada: Friesens. pp. 16–27. He painted from both field sketches and photographs, and described his process as “trying to capture what [he] saw.”Millar, Lissa (2008). "A Life in Colour". Currents. p. 14.
Exhibitions 1980 – Ted Smith and Rhona Armes, Kamloops Art Gallery 1982 – Images of a Regional Landscape, Kamloops Art Gallery 1983 – University College of the Cariboo (Kamloops, B.C.) 1988 – In Celebration, Kamloops Art Gallery 1988 and 1994- Oasis Gallery (Kamloops, B.C.) 1989 and 1991 – The Little Picture Show, Oasis Gallery (Kamloops, B.C.) 1992 – Ted Smith: Three Decades of Colour, Kamloops Art Gallery 1995 – Juried Exhibition, Kamloops Art Gallery 2000-2001 – Home Grown: Five from the Region, Kamloops Art GalleryA catalogue of the exhibition Home Grown: Five from the Region. Kamloops Art Gallery. 2001. 2011 – Familiar Territory, Kamloops Art Gallery 2014 – Ted Smith: A Retrospective, Kamloops Art Gallery 2019 – Ted Smith: Ideal Forms, Kamloops Museum and Archives (posthumous) 2022 – Reading the Land: Ten Years of Collecting, Kamloops Art Gallery (posthumous)
External links Kamloops Art Gallery collection Jack Shaw (fly fisherman)
References