Like father, like son goes only so far for Gerard and Jerry Smith. The father and son, both Connecticut natives, enjoy working with acrylics. They also like to hold the occasional art show together.
But while Gerard Smith, 70, the successful naturalist painter from Waterford is known for his landscapes and seascapes that feature birds, his son Jerry, who lives in Montville, has taken off in a totally different direction: abstract, multimedia.
“It’s futuristic, almost like things from outer space. Maybe a germ some scientist would discover,” Gerard said of his son’s art. “You have to see it to understand it.”
The Hidden Gallery in the Marketplace Shops of Old Lyme is giving people a chance to see the works of both father and son, starting with an opening reception on Friday, Oct. 3. The shop, opened by Cindy Fecher in June, features about 30 artists, ranging from paintings and sculpture to stained glass creations by Marsha Vasiloff and other works.
Gerard grew up in West Haven and moved to Waterford as an adult. A realistic nature painter, working predominantly in acrylics and the occasional pastel or watercolor, he also has been offering private classes in his studio for about 40 years.
Gerard paints nature as he sees it. These aren’t your typical bucolic New England scenes, though.
There’s an intriguing tension in his Lightning Rod with Hawk, the majestic predator soaring over an old-fashioned rod, standing in a green pasture, ominous clouds building against a serene blue sky. The broad side of an old red New England barn in Afternoon Kite Hawk is the backdrop for the swooping bird and bare, gnarled tree branches.
“I paint what’s around me,” he said. “I painted that old red barn at Harkness State Park. If I go to Maine, I’ll paint something up there. It’s what I experience.”
The elder Smith has experienced a lot as a nature painter. His big break came in the early 1970s when the Mitch Morris Gallery on 57th Street in New York called him.
“He asked if I was the artist who paints barns and scarecrows. When I said yes, he said to bring some paintings on down and let’s talk about a contract,” he said.
Morris snapped up all of Smith’s works, starting a nine-year relationship that included several one-man shows and sell-outs.
Celebrities have flocked to collect his works, too. Burt Reynolds has eight paintings, Clint Eastwood has three, President Ronald Reagan had one, Sarah Churchill has a couple of them. So did Charlton Heston.
“Two weeks before he passed away, he sent me his last publicity photo. He was about 60 years old, with a shotgun over his shoulder and a cowboy hat. He looks so cool,” Smith said.
Smith’s works also are in the corporate collections of the Rockefeller Foundation and Johnson & Johnson.
Smith, who founded the Waterford Arts Council, grew up with the influence of art. His father, Frank, was a modern sculptor, but didn’t have the means to pursue his art while raising a family.
“He was pretty happy when I started painting,” Gerard said. In fact, Gerard started painting as a business, the year Jerry, now 44, a contemporary painter and wall sculptor, was born.
Jerry’s works appeal to Pfizer scientists, Gerard said, possibly because the wild colors and patterns are evocative of something they might discover in a test tube or under the microscope.
Father and son have done three or four two-man shows together before, including at Studio 33 in New London.
“The father-son shows are kind of a personal thing. Our work complements each other’s. His works are totally different than mine,” he said. “Jerry’s are totally wild, and mine are nice and calm. People like that.”
Jerry continues to work a day job and to create his art around that, while raising two small children with his wife, Erica.
“That’s how I started. You have all sorts of jobs, and you get a break here or there. You get in a gallery and slowly but surely it builds. Things happen. It’s more fate than luck,” he said.
Smith considers his wife, Carolyn, a retired photographer, his biggest supporter and critic.
“I rely on what she says. I finish a painting and she’s the first one I show it to. There are things she spots that I even overlook. I probably get mad at the time, but I turn around and she is right. She tells me the truth and I want that,” he said.
An artist and photographer, Fecher was in shows 10 years before she started the outdoor Old Lyme Fine Arts Festivals six years ago and the Hidden Gallery earlier this year.
The gallery continually rotates its collection and has the space to hold special showings such as Gerard’s and Jerry’s, said Fecher, who works directly with the artists. While she carries paintings that range into the thousands of dollars, the gallery also has $5 soy candles that are hand-poured in Franklin. The gallery’s handmade furniture and rugs also are for sale.
The Art of Gerard and Jerry Smith show will be on display through October at the Hidden Gallery, 19 Halls Road, Old Lyme Shopping Center. The Gallery is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from noon to 6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from noon to 7 p.m.; and Sundays, Mondays, and mornings by appointment. Call 434-7999 or go to www.hiddengalleryart.com for more information.