Richmonders familiar with Smithfield the painting pig already know that he can be a ham.

But tonight, the rest of the nation will witness his handiwork with a hoof and paintbrush when the 10-year-old Vietnamese potbelly appears on "America's Got Talent."

In April, Smithfield and his owner, Fran Martin, traveled to New York for an audition at the Manhattan Center Studios, where show judges David Hasselhoff, Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne took a gander at Smithfield's painting prowess.

Smithfield was a bit nervous getting started, but at least one of the judges displayed some patience with the panicky porker.

"Every time I looked at the judges, the only one who gave me any encouragement was David Hasselhoff," Martin said. "Finally, I got [Smithfield] to paint, and then he wouldn't stop. And then he wouldn't get off the stage, and he laid down and was fast asleep. He was exhausted."

NBC won't allow Martin to disclose before tonight's show airs whether Smithfield was pushed through to the next round. But she did note that Morgan "buzzed" the performance -- a signal that he did not want the pig to continue.

The art that Smithfield created during his audition will be auctioned at his www.paintingpig.com site, with proceeds benefiting the Smithfield the Painting Pig scholarship for a student potbelly pig specialist at North Carolina State University.

Back home, Smithfield will soon have his own studio to paint in and have his work displayed at Chesterfield County's Rockwood Park, inside the Nature Center.

The studio will open the weekend of July 12, with Smithfield on site for a free painting performance.

Contact Melissa Ruggieri at (804) 649-6120 or mruggieri@timesdispatch.com.