Friday Harbor, Wash. – Teresa Smith’s art represents her life living on San Juan island in Washington State. Surrounded by giant fir trees and the Salish Sea, she strives to paint mystical landscapes representing the West Coast. Smith will be exhibiting her oil paintings at Western Canada’s largest art fair, Art Vancouver 2021.
Smith began her studies while growing up in Canada. Inspired by Emily Carr, Tom Thomson and The Group of Seven, always striving to capture the heart of the woods. She graduated from Naropa University with a contemplative manner, allowing the painting to unfold, rather than contriving a concept beforehand. One brush stroke leads to the next until, standing back, it is clear the painting will change the energy in a room.
Smith starts each piece with a loose, drippy underpainting. It is this layer that directs where the painting will go. There is little control over this phase and there is a rawness and spontaneity that cannot be contrived. After the underpainting has dried, she begins putting on the oil paint with painterly brush marks, some thick and some thin. Working layer-by-layer, she always preserves the first raw layer, turning the painting into a finished, polished work of art, while staying with the soul of the painting and allowing it to have a voice of its own.
Smith is excited to be included in Art Vancouver, share her work with art lovers and exhibit her work in Canada. Although Teresa is from Canada and has a small home in Victoria, her work has been predominantly shown in the U.S.
Teresa Smith will be with us at the Convention Centre in 2021!
For more information visit her website here or email: Teresa.smith5@gmail.com
Instagram: @teresasmithart