Each instance Richard Lee Smith steps to a creative threshold, he seizes the opportunity softly with admiration for the storytelling process. Be it a painting, drawing, print, or book, each is the beginning. When viewed in succession, they weave a luscious tale. His work is evidence of the intervals discovered in the process — the documentation of a journey. Richard’s experiences have taught him to notice and appreciate symbolism. In nature, a leaf in the Spring means something different from a leaf in the Autumn. With subtle sophistication, textural intrigue, and visual surprise, his work emulates these murmurings and filters in memories and the discovery of greater meaning in something small as well as something specific or personal in the universal. Longing for that contented moment where creation meets craft, the process is to unveil a story through exploration, introspection, and the use of implied time of sequential images which steadily reveal a tale of relationships. Even if it is ugly and painful, Richard believes in beauty — its power, and its poetry— because he knows there is a story waiting to evolve.