The college edition of Webster’s New World Dictionary once defined an artist as 1) a person
who works in or is skilled in any of the fine, especially graphic arts; 2) a person who does
anything very well, with a feeling for form, effect, etc. That definition aptly describes Brad
Smith, a man of substantial talent and personality, an accomplished and mainly self-taught
Houston-based artist.
Smith's work includes a portfolio of fantastic graphic designs he has created for high-profile
clients such as Evander Holyfield, Muscle & Fitness and Texas Fitness & Longevity
magazines, the Houston Business Journal and KMJQ FM Houston, and served as art director
for one of Houston's fastest-growing newspapers. He creates original designs for imprinted
sportswear, one of which was used for the first International Music Festival in Ghana, Africa.
He has also created promotional material for politicians including U.S. Congresswoman
Sheila Jackson Lee, as well as numerous musical acts who anxiously wait for the artist to
perform his artistic magic on their CD covers. Satisfied customers from the music world
include Grammy Award-winning producer Tim Thomas (who produced music for Toni
Braxton’s debut album, Jermaine Jackson, and many others), Nuwine, IBC, Lil’ Raskull,
Kingpin Productions, Jacque Darraugh, SGR Records, Stephanie, L.G. Wise, the Bob Marley
Festival Minnesota and R&B artist Bobby Womack.
This artist, who readily admits his wish to be younger (so it’s hard to get an exact read on
his age), began his design training while a student at the Houston High School for the
Performing and Visual Arts. During that time in his life, he worked as a part-time graphic
designer at the Houston Independent School District, which became a full-time eight-year
stay, a relationship he still maintains today, although now on a freelance basis. Smith credits
his formative design training to former Houston ISD Superintendent Billy Reagan’s “beautiful
relationship with Apple Computer.” The former district administrator was periodically gifted
with state-of-the-art Apple products, and Smith was able to reap the benefits of the Apple
connection by accessing graphic design equipment and products to his heart’s content.
The design guru is proud of his strong propensity for Apple computers and works almost
exclusively with software from longtime Apple supporters Adobe, Macromedia and Quark.
He readily admits that he “wouldn’t touch clip art” for a serious project. In addition to his
substantial graphic talent, Smith has an ever-increasing array of paintings which are
produced just because he enjoys it, and he generates song lyrics on a regular basis. Smith
may soon release his music collection via the performance talent of a close friend who goes
by the name Origen. He describes the music as a mix of classical and funk with a deeply
spiritual theme.
“The songs are about things I’ve been through,” Smith says. “The title song of the first
concept of the CD ‘I Could Have Cried,’ was actually written after the death of a close friend
in 1990. After his funeral, I started feeling words and as it happened I started writing and
that song is what came out of it. After that, I started writing more and more pieces.”
The artist presents his philosophy on creativity and art: “...it's a constant, unseen plane of
existence. Artists, musicians and visionaries travel into the unseen, grab hold of what
attracts them, and bring it to this seen plane. If I don’t go get it, somebody else will, and
create it here in this world in their own unique style. I believe everything is "floating" around
in that unseen plane, which is endless. That’s why I don’t think I’ll ever run out of things to
create.”
Smith describes his life’s vocation as a tremendous blessing and credits his yearning to be
an artist to his father who, during his early childhood, drew him a line-drawing of the
cartoon character Popeye. “Now I can see anything and recreate it,” says the artist. “I can
communicate with people without words and graphic art is good, quick money. I think
everybody has creativity within because creativity exists in the very construct of the
universe...God is very creative," Smith concludes. “I want to influence a lot of lives…to the
positive.” |
