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<\/a>Portrait of William Rowe Smith<\/p><\/div>\n
I am a retired Architect, an artist, and do freelance writing. During the years of architectural practice it was my great pleasure to enjoy the friendship and tutoring of several artist friends. There is not space to mention all of them so please allow me to concentrate on only three of the very great: George Dibble, Harrison Groutage, and Farrell Collett. I was, and am, close friends with them and will recount stories of experiences I enjoyed as I worked and learned from each of them. There are so many resumes, books, and articles on these three that I shan\u2019t go into detail.<\/p>\n
Architecture was my profession. Art became my escape from the pressures of budgets, school boards, and standing nose to nose with contractors. Watercolor fascinated me. Problem here was my need to learn all the innate skills of mixing colors, loading and drawing with a brush as one chases paint across Arches, buckling and crawling away from the water.<\/p>\n
<\/a>“Cedar Breaks No.2” used by permission of the Dibble family<\/p><\/div>\n
GEORGE S DIBBLE
\nA favorite I used to enjoy every Sunday was George Dibble\u2019s art section in the Salt Lake Tribune. Anyone who read and enjoyed his Tribune articles soon became fascinated with watercolor. In the preface of his book, Watercolor \u2013 Materials and Techniques, he wrote, \u201cTo serve the needs and interests of my many students and fellow artists whose search for the methods and techniques that will strengthen their creative abilities.\u201d In that one sentence is an introduction to a fine gentleman and a great artist.<\/p>\n
In one of Dibble\u2019s workshops, I was struggling with my pallet of mud. He stood watching and commented, \u201cYoung man you need help.\u201d I sure did. That was the beginning of a long and delightful friendship with George Dibble. I became a devoted fan and started experimenting with the water medium — probably mixed a half tub of mud before I started getting a measure of control over mixing colors. The next and even more difficult task was learning to draw with a brush. \u201cLoad your brush and touch the paper with the point,\u201d Dibble would say.<\/p>\n
<\/a>“Park City” by George Dibble<\/p><\/div>\n
My determination was to master this crazy paint. This paint that goes every which way as it is absorbed into the paper or glazes the surface and uses the white of the paper to establish value. It both fascinated and frustrated me. I went to Park City several times with Dibble or Harrison Groutage to sketch and rough out watercolors of the fantastic old homes and commercial buildings from Park City’s mining days. One of the watercolors I am especially proud of is my Back Alley Park City, which I did on site with comments and critiques by Dibble.<\/p>\n
Finally, with a lot of help from him, I got watercolor somewhat under control so I wanted to try oil. Most of my first efforts with oil left me with more paint on my arms or shirt than on the canvas. I soon learned that the water medium sure is easier to clean up after painting.<\/p>\n
<\/a>“Prairie Pampers” by William Rowe Smith<\/p><\/div>\n
My first somewhat successful oil painting was of the little Indian boy I saw on a Jeep trip to Southern Utah. The child had the seat of his pants cut out exposing his bottom. It came out rather well so I named it “Prairie Pampers.” My next oil was with a group tutored by Dibble at the old Bamburger Farm. I had the painting nearly complete when a gust of wind picked it up off my easel and dumped it into a pile of leaves and plant debris. I was starting to clean it off when Dibble came over, and suggested that I leave it alone. The shards of leaves and other plant debris had made an interesting pattern in the wet oil. When it finally dried it was rather exciting, I named it “Spud Cellar.”<\/p>\n
HARRISON (GROUT) GROUTAGE
\nI met Harrison Groutage in 1955 when I designed the Fine Art Center for Dixie College, St. George. Gerald Olsen from the Dixie College art department told me that Groutage, an art instructor at Logan’s USU, was one of the most talented artists in the state. He recommended him to do the mural, which I planned to use in my design. I drove to Logan, met Groutage, and was so impressed that I engaged him to do the mural, and purchased one of his paintings. This Groutage painting began our art collection, which focused primarily on fine watercolors and ink renderings.<\/p>\n
<\/a>“Mission” by Bill Smith<\/p><\/div>\n
Dixie College President, Arthur Bruhn was intrigued with the idea of a mural, although there was not enough in the budget to include it. Bruhn felt confident that if the building was designed to accommodate a mural, he could get private donations to have it done when the building was completed. He was very successful, even touched our office for $8,000 from our commission. I understood that a large share of our contribution was to go to Groutage, which pleased me. I must report that this story has an unhappy ending. My handsome building is in the process of demolition to provide space for a huge new fine art center to accommodate the expanded college.<\/p>\n
For the next several years Grout conducted paintouts and workshops, which I attended. Two of the workshops were in Monterey California, one with Grout, one with Grout and Ed Maryon. We spent most of the time sketching the stunningly beautiful Mission at Carmel. As I recall Grout did one watercolor on site. Most of the time we did numerous watercolor sketches and even more photographs. The final watercolors were usually done back in our studios. I am proud of two paintings I finished from this trip, one of the Mission (right) and the other of the Monterey Coast.<\/p>\n