Ferndale Artist Skates, Creates and Occasionally Destroys

While a stream of consciousness might include where to get lunch, an itinerary for work the next day and what's on TV tonight, self-taught artist Jason Abraham Smith, 27, has different concepts on his mind. A giraffe in a business suit, a narcissistic bird, severed limbs and a disemboweled robot are just some of the thoughts turned into artwork produced in his Ferndale home.

Smith said he isn’t sure why the ideas he comes up with pop into his head, but when they do, he is compelled to create them.

His wife, Monica Breen described his art as simple and honest. She said it is sometimes based on a moment he just experienced or a reflection of how he feels about someone.

“When he begins his work, he's really focused," she said. "He throws a switch when he starts working on a project and becomes immersed in it.”

Smith’s paintings use vibrant colors and sometimes-gruesome humor. The pieces feature animals, robots and warped-looking human characters. Although he said people are free to interpret his work any way they want, he often incorporates phrases into his art to convey a message.

“I put words on the paintings so you kind of know what’s going on,” he said.

A crow perched on a can of Tecate caws that he doesn’t mind drinking alone. A banshee-looking woman garbles, “I will eat you alive,” through a mouthful of blood. An overworked giraffe concedes to the rat race as “Another day another dollar.”

Before he moved to Michigan in 2005, Smith lived in Vermont, California, New Hampshire, Connecticut and New York. “When I was little, I wanted to be a cartoonist, and I’d draw cartoons all over everything,” he said. During his travels, his art evolved from cartoons to public art using spray-painted stencils to what he produces today.

Smith’s preferred medium is acrylic paint on canvas, wood or skateboards. Yes, skateboards.

Skateboarding is a hobby that has stayed with Smith since his childhood, and he is frequently seen at Riley Skate Park in Farmington Hills or Modern Skate Park in Royal Oak. The tagline on his website is: “I enjoy creating more than I enjoy destroying.”

Smith said this is his way of expressing the juxtaposition of his two favorite hobbies. “I like doing art, but it’s also fun to smash stuff,” he said. “Skateboarding is pretty much destruction of property. You’re waxing curbs and grinding benches — search and destroy.”

Smith recently completed the graphic design program at the Specs Howard School of Media Arts in Southfield and has done freelance graphic design for various companies in the area. He also has designed posters for several local bands, including the Suicide Machines, Prussia and Bars of Gold. He has had two art shows at , where he has been employed for more than three years.

He said he never considered selling his work until people visiting his home started noticing the art and offered to buy it. For last year’s show, he said he painted 12 skateboards and sold them all. The skateboards were not intended for practical use, but Smith said whoever bought them could use them for whatever they wanted.

“If I saw someone skating on a skateboard I painted, it might be cooler than if it was hanging on a wall somewhere,” he said.

Visit Jason Abraham Smith's website here.