|
Beau Smith's
Father and Grandmother were acclaimed artists, he a
sculptor and she a noted watercolorist. As a
teenager, Beau contributed to one of his
Grandmother’s exhibits with four detailed drawings.
He was immediately hooked. He was eager to follow in
his Grandmother and Father's footsteps, pursuing a
career as an artist. As a child he watched as his
father filled their backyard with large abstracts
done in cortin steel, stainless steel, copper,
brass, and metal scrap. He watched as his dad built
abstract jesters, tightrope walkers, dancers, a
praying mantis, goats, and surreal creatures out of
carved driftwood and welded copper and nail people
out of huge nails. He investigated many sculpture
mediums and kept coming back to welding with copper
and brass. As his father's son and sometimes
apprentice, Beau observed the evolution of the
human-sized copper frog, and sometimes participated
in it. Some Frogs were cruder, others, more
streamlined; some were more fantastical, others,
more humorous; some were more human, others, more
froglike. Today the Smith’s human-sized copper frogs
embody tradition and novelty, a combination worth
noting.
Why frogs? You
may ask. A lot of people, perhaps such as you, adore
frogs. Why not? They are adorable. They also lend
themselves well to humor and whimsy. This is only
part of the answer. Something magical happened when
the subject frog was married to copper sculpting. He
likes to think of what happened as "the discovery of
a medium". And if that sounds strange, well it is, a
little. The human-sized copper frog is as unique as
any sculpture can be, and the fact that he builds
many human-sized copper frogs, and has been doing so
for many years is evidence of his talent and
creative genius
The Smith’s
Frogs are in private collections and public parks
and gardens across the United States and Canada. A
children's museum in Honduras has a permanent
installation of fifteen frogs. An elementary school
near New York State’s Wave Hill sculpture gardens
has a large permanent collection, as does the
Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The acclaimed gardens of
Quebec’s Les Quatre Vents has a large collection,
and highlights the Frogs in The Greater Perfection,
a coffee table book written by the creator of the
gardens, Francis H. Cabot. The city of Smyrna, GA
recently acquired four Frogs for the downtown area.
The Frogs provided a backdrop for a performance by
Travis Tritt at the 1995 Country Music Awards.
The Frogs
inspire fun. They will lift your spirits. And they
are substantial sculptures that will stand the test
of time. Comparable to bronzes, they are suitable
for both private and public presentation both
indoors and out. They are durable and permanent,
formed and fortified with entirely non-corrosive
metals: copper, brass, and stainless steel. Most
often they are treated with a verdigris patina,
which weathers well outdoors. If you want any old
frog, go catch one. If you want a frog like no
other, a work of classic beauty yet has an
impeccable novelty then only a Beau Smith Frog will
do. |
|
|
|
Trio |
Goblet |
|
|
|
Goblet |
Sax |
|
|
|
Picture Book |
Picture Book |
|
|
|
Picture Book |
Picture Book and Dragonfly |
|
|
|
Mandolin |
Book |
|
|
|
Guitar |
Musical Group |
|
|
|
Bass |
Fiddle |
|
|
|
Fiddle |
Fiddle |
|
