ABOUT IVAN
Ivan Smith is a Melbourne-based artist specialising in watercolour and acrylic mediums. With a career spanning 35 years as a freelance graphic artist, he has gained multiple ARPA (Press) awards for striking front-cover features in newspapers and magazines.
As an illustrator and cartoonist, Ivan possesses a deep appreciation for the power of storytelling. He is particularly drawn to the concept of visual parables, conveying narratives with a single glance - with elements of hope, peace, character, and warmth.
Each painting evolves through consideration of camera angles, color moods, and points of interest. Once the layering washes and blending begins, the magic unfolds and the painting takes on a life of its own.
Deeply inspired by his Yarra Ranges locale, Ivan finds solace in the Australian landscape. His affinity for the country's diverse wildlife is also evident in his work.
Ivan is a member of the Yarra Valley Arts Society.
Kapi Art Space
1282 Mount Dandenong Tourist Rd
Kalorama, Victoria
www.kapiartspace.com
Some of Ivan's work is currently on display at:
Ivan Smith is a highly gifted artist and graphic designer who did much to improve the design and appearance of The Melbourne Anglican (TMA) when I was editor. His paintings, which featured on the covers of the Christmas and Easter editions, and his overall design of the paper, won much acclaim and were publicly recognised with awards from ARPA, the national association for religious publications in Australia.
Roland Ashby, former editor of TMA
and Communications Director for the
Anglican Diocese of Melbourne.
We commissioned Ivan to paint a mural for our School Library, giving him a few vague ideas of what we wanted, but largely leaving the design up to him. His design of an Australian bush scene was superior to any of the examples I had given him and the finished mural exceeded all of my expectations with the beautiful bush scene blending seamlessly with the real bush outside our Library windows. Ivan really seemed to enjoy the process of creating the scene and the mural evolved as he kept adding elements as he thought of them. It is truly a masterpiece, one that we have the privilege of enjoying for many years to come. Our students are absolutely delighted and love finding all of the various characters depicted in the mural. Thank you Ivan, we could not be happier!
Fiona Haynes
MECS Librarian/Library Manager
