David Smith is one of Britain’s leading landscape artists and his striking cloudscapes are currently being displayed by Galeria Côrte-Real at two venues in the Algarve. David is an expert in a technique known as ‘skying’, a term invented by John Constable. Being the source of light and shade in nature, ‘skying’ refers to the methodical study of the sky and all forms of cloud formations.

Constable was very committed to this method. It is estimated that between 1821 and 1822 he painted at least 100 sky studies. On the back of many of these he inscribed his observations: “5th September 1822. 10 o’clock. Morning, looking South East, very brisk wind at West. Very bright and fresh grey clouds running very fast about half way in the sky.”

These small paintings were produced in preparation for his monumental landscapes for which he has become so famous. In a similar way, for inclusion in larger paintings, Turner worked in a sketchbook drawing clouds while lying on his back.

Like both of these grand masters, David Smith is committed to the outdoors and painting ‘en plein air’. As a result, the fleeting energy of each cloud is captured at a particular moment in time.

Quite unlike the American artist Georgia O’Keefe, who is renowned for her series Sky Above Clouds. Her clouds are painted as abstract images seen from an aeroplane window. David is a purist and pictures them exactly as they appear. When looking at his paintings it is possible to judge their direction of travel, distance, scale and the atmospheric conditions in the surrounding air. This is achieved by careful observation and handling the paint in a free and expressive manner, using both brush and palette knife. Generating mood is the main aim of David’s work. “It is the essence of all great artistic, literary and musical masterpieces,” he says. He refers to the English painter and poet William Blake and his depictions of clouds. “They invariably stir volatile emotions that are reflective of his turbulent mental state. Either as the written word or when portrayed in a painting, his clouds are masterworks.”

Creating a similar mood, in Emily Dickinson’s poem entitled The Sky is low – the Clouds are mean, she personifies aspects of the sky. Cloudbursts and thunderstorms are imbued with human qualities expressing emotions and changing mental states. Shelley identifies clouds as “the offspring of Earth and Water, nurtured by the Sky. Stating its immortality, the cloud tells us, I change but I cannot die.” Fernando Pessoa, the celebrated Portuguese poet, likens the passage of his dreams to the clouds, “Como nuvens pelo céu, Passam os sonhos por mim” (like clouds across the sky, dreams pass by me). And Wordsworth’s “I wandered lonely as a cloud” is probably the best-known opening line of any poem in the English language.

A single cloud lent itself to be included in Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite, The Planets. Mercury, The Winged Messenger, rises and sinks on a cloud that takes him on a journey above the Himalayas. Represented by a high pitched harp, flute, and glockenspiel, the image is flawless as Mercury carries a message of love on an intrepid journey.

Motivated by all aspects of the natural world, David’s acclaimed paintings have been widely exhibited, notably during 2020 when examples were displayed by the Royal Society of Marine Artists and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. His latest paintings can be seen at Côrte-Real’s new gallery in Olhão’s boutique hotel, Casa Amor. Also at Galeria Côrte Real in Paderne

Words: Carolyn Kain