His work expresses the belief that the surfaces of pictures, the facture of the things, are what is integral to the esthetic experience of painting. Large blocks and lozenges of rich textured colour jostle and abut against each other in a struggle which creates an intense and satisfying pictorial unity. Mitchel Smith was born in Liverpool, England. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Alberta an 1982 and had his first solo exhibiton at the Edmonton Art Gallery in 1986.