Andrew M. Smith is a Malta-based artist who specialises in the en plein air genre of landscape artwork, that is, painting outdoors and on location. Andrew was originally from Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire although he has spent nearly almost all of his life in Malta taking Maltese citizenship in 2012.

 Andrew speaks about his experiences leading up to the present day: "I learnt my ways as an artist in Malta and consider the Maltese artistic culture to be the most dominating source. I would describe Malta as very artistically enthusiastic and without the country's positive push on myself as an individual I would not have achieved or perhaps even started many of the artistic ventures I have done to-date."

Andrew began his artistic scholarship under the tutelage of John Martin Borg and progressed to master-class workshops abroad. Since then Andrew has won international awards and taken part in international exhibitions. He represented Malta within the International Watercolour Society and also within the Fabriano International Festival as a country leader. Andrew also cites inspiration and credit to Anthony Weitz's Plein Air Painters of Malta events as a source of influence.

Regarding his achievements Andrew writes: "My proudest achievement in the arts was not actually a personal achievement per se, it was in 2016 when, in the Fabriano international watercolour festival as the smallest of 56 countries in the festival, Malta provided a maximised team of 22 artists alongside the larger artistic countries such as Italy, France, the UK, Russia and China."

Andrew's expertly driven techniques with both watercolour and gouache mediums produce a diverse range of painting styles including realist paintings, impressionist and a wide expression of colour and palette.

Andrew says this about usage of different techniques: "I am interested in many different subject types, the Maltese side of me allows me to appreciate the architecture and the seascapes. I also appreciate a good sky in a painting and large open spaces. I use watercolour and gouache interchangeably dependent on the mood or style I wish to paint my subject. I use watercolour if I want to portray space, distance or if my subject has significant differences in tone, whereas I will use gouache when a more abstract approach is needed or more pure colour is required in the finished painting."

Proceeding into 2019 Andrew was selected into the Royal Institute of Watercolours annual exhibition in London before concentrating locally on landscape painting. He has spent the past three years touring every corner of Malta and Gozo, culminating in a collection of paintings which will be on display at Gallery 23.

The solo exhibition features paintings from 44 different places around the Maltese archipelago.

"We decided to call the show 'an artistic journey through the Maltese islands' because, with nearly 70 paintings on display, some effort was applied into making sure all corners of Malta, Gozo and Comino were featured in the show."

Smith's solo exhibition is entitled Scenic Route - An artistic journey through the Maltese Islands and has been curated by Rachel Said and Alexia Gingell Littlejohn. The artist will be in residence at Gallery 23, Idmejda Street, Balzan on Sundays (10am-12.30pm) and Wednesdays (6.30-8pm) until 8 March.