Robert Daniel "Dan" Smith's Obituary
Robert Daniel “Dan” Smith, celebrated local artist, died peacefully on May 10 at age 90 in his beloved St. Petersburg home surrounded by his family.
Dan truly never worked a day in his life because he loved every art job he had. He mastered it all from painting murals and watercolor landscapes to portraits, sketching cartoons and caricatures. He relished in drawing caricatures especially -- capturing his subjects’ likeness and idiosyncrasies with charm and humor, often in minutes. He was the life of every party where all gathered around his easel to enjoy his humorous running commentary and marvel at his talent. He was well liked and respected among his fellow caricature artists who awarded him the prestigious Silver Nosey at the 1998 annual convention of the International Society of Caricature Artists in Las Vegas.
Dan’s paintings and murals can be seen around the Tampa Bay area in local restaurants, churches and in the form of large U.S. maps on the blacktops of elementary schools. His clients consider his portraits in pastel and acrylic as priceless family treasures for the way he captured both the appearance and spirit of their loved ones.
**A gallery of his artwork can be viewed here.
Dan, a graduate of the Art Academy of Cincinnati, said he should have gone to business school as well because he drastically undervalued his work and rarely got ahead financially. With Mary Lou, his wife of 16 years, he raised five daughters on scant income from odd art jobs wherever he could set up an easel from beach hotel lobbies to cruise ships to Clearwater’s Pier 60 to the classic Kapok Tree Inn.
Dan loved the relaxed beach lifestyle and lived in various apartments from Clearwater to Indian Rocks Beach over 30 years. Dan knew his beach community well. In the early 2000s, he produced an award-winning weekly cartoon for the Tampa Bay Newspapers covering beach news. He could be seen walking the sands and streets of Indian Rocks Beach, often with his sweet partner Jackie Cernak who he said made him a better person. Jackie died too young in 2007.
Dan never stopped challenging himself and his artistic limits. At the age of 75, he taught himself how to use an iPad and stylus to create caricatures and portraits in digital format that could pass for original watercolors. His nine beloved grandchildren were his last subjects and devoted fans.
A native of the small town of Sidney, Ohio, Dan was the middle of three brothers and one sister. His father worked in a steel mill before opening his own Five & Dime store and his mother operated a secondhand clothing shop later in life. Dan stumbled toward his art career, making brief detours to a Catholic seminary and the US Army, where he was assigned to draw recruitment posters and entertain in the officer’s club of Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas. He eventually found his way to art school -- gaining entrance on the strength of his amazing self portrait. He married Mary Lou in 1962 and started a family in Cincinnati. He moved his young family south as soon as he could after discovering the warmth and sunsets of Clearwater Beach and a larger market for his artwork among the crowds of Florida tourists. Dan lived out his final years near downtown St. Petersburg under the care of his devoted daughters.
Dan followed numerous spiritual quests in his wanderers’ lifestyle from Catholic fellowships to a community of spiritually curious people learning together from A Course in Miracles. From both of these communities he came to love and emulate Jesus, to tame his temper and fears, to forgive himself and others, to honestly explore this world and to extend generosity and kindness to all he met. He was a funny, contented, loving soul who will be greatly missed. He left this world better than he found it.
He is survived by his sister Kathleen, his five daughters: Monica, Bonnie, Angela, Sheila and Dolly, and his nine grandchildren.
In his latter days, Dan gratefully received so much help from the kind staff of the VA hospital at Bay Pines and the extraordinary volunteers of Meals on Wheels. If you are moved to share with his family now, they would be honored if you made a donation in Dan’s name to either of those organizations. Thank you
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