December 2015

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Supercat, watercolor on Arches 9 x 12"

Supercat was started at La Villita, San Antonio, TX and sold at La Villita the day I brought it in. It was chosen by a wonderful young family who live in Houston for the time being. He is from Ireland and she from Azerbaijan, They have a strong connection to France and in particular Nice. They bought the cat for their alert, superfriendly 6 month-old baby girl. 

Indian Beauties, oil on linen, 18 x 24"

This is the portrait I mentioned before. It is finished and leaving for its home this Christmas. The photograph was a selfie, and I didn't realize that fact would affect the faces. I enjoyed painting the young women, their beautiful clothes and jewelry. I also enjoyed meeting with them and hearing their opinion a couple of times during the process.

Old Monastery of the Cave of  Shio, Republic of Georgia, watercolor on Arches paper 20 x 24"

This watercolor went to its new home this Christmas. Dr. R. Rodriguez, our dentist, liked the little watercolor I did in the Republic of Georgia so well, that he asked for a larger version. St Shio was one of the 13 Syrian Fathers who came to be missionaries in Georgia. The monastery was founded in the 6th century by father Shio who spent the last 15 years of his life as an hermit in a cave (a deep pit) there. My son, Gerald and I found the cave very impressive. The watercolor below shows just what I saw at the monastery. The mountains in the new version are from a different place in Georgia. The beautiful Caucasus my husband photographed on a trip to another monastery added delight and challenge to my task.

Old Church of Monastery Shio Mgvime (Cave of  Shio), Republic of Georgia, watercolor on Arches 9 x 12" 

I think of my family, friends and collectors with fondness and gratitude. Have a Happy Holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Autumn 2015

Gleb G.,"Gleba's Wise Cat", markers

 I have been out of touch these last months, a lot has happened. I watched my friend's three sons and enjoyed being back in the world of toddlers and elementary school kids for a few weeks in July and August. Gleb, the middle one, asked for a picture to color, so I drew him one of my whimsical cats in pencil. I think, he did a great job, don't you?

 With the help of fellow artists, we painted and cleaned the Annex gallery's back rooms in order to expand and have room for more artists. Soon afterwards it turned out the building was needed by LaVillita for its historic exhibit. We had the Annex rent free, we met interesting people and had good sales. Thank you, San Antonio! It was a good experience!

 In October, my husband and I went to Toronto, Canada, to see the work of the Group of Seven. It had been a dream of mine since I found out about these landscape painters in Edward Povey's classes in 2012. I got to study amazing paintings for 3 days and I am still recovering. Looking at the pictures we took, I realized that they, in no way, come close to what we saw. They do give an idea, however. Bear with my captions, I didn't keep track of the names of the paintings, I think, I got the names of the artists right.

F. Carmichael, "October Gold"

Tom Thomson, study

Tom Thomson, study

A.Y.Jackson, Indian Village

I have been working on a portrait I meant to finish before I sent my blog. But this painting, although it is almost done, is taking me longer than I expected.
The German Shepherd was a commission for a dear friend. Indian Squirrel Cat was painted when I had a little free time after watching the children this summer.Spirit was inspired by a neighborhood cat I met on my walks. Arneson Theatre Cat was started at the dealership waiting for my car to be serviced.
 Joy and Love to all of you!

Suzke, Japanese watercolor

Indian Squirrel Cat, Japanese watercolor

Spirit, watercolor

Arneson Theatre Cat, Japanese watercolor

May and June 2015

"the Alamo Cat", Japanese watercolor on Arches paper

My whimsical cats and Kendra's portrait have kept me busy and happy these past months.
We have had Gabriel's graduation and Gerald's departure for France. In the meantime I have been working on weekends at the River Art Group Annex and meeting people from different parts of the the US, Canada and from distant parts of the world. I work on the first and third Sunday of the month.

Kendra's portrait is done from a beautiful photograph. As always I learned a lot in the process of painting this portrait.
Have a great summer!

Kendra, oil on canvas, 16x20"

"Huey Cat", watercolor on Arches paper

March and April 2015

Saint Spyridon, oil on linen,  10x12"

St. Spyridon, a Greek saint of Cyprus, was painted for a friend in the Netherlands. It was a Syrian icon that my friend liked best and that was the model for my work, that is why the name: Saint Spyridon is painted in Arabic characters. Robert's students helped me with the writing.

Yolande's Great Oak, oil on canvas, 30x40"

Yolande's Great Oak is nearing completion. I showed it to you last year in its early stages. I repainted almost the whole painting. It is hanging in our living room and I am debating what more needs to be done.

In San Antonio my art is on display in La Villita at the River Art Group Gallery and River Art Group Annex.
 Till the end of May some of my smaller oil paintings are at the Great Harvest Bakery at Winston Hills Village   
222267 NW Military HwySan Antonio, TX
210-348-9870
My friend, Cindy Morawski, discovered the Great Harvest Bakery and I owe my exhibit there to her. (By the way the bread and muffins at the bakery are excellent.) Yes, it is the same Cindy I talked about in my last blog when I promised to show you her pastel of the Bald Cypress from Garner State Park. Here it is!

Fall's Festival on the Frio, pastel by Cindy Morawski

I have mentioned my teacher, Edward Povey, repeatedly in older blogs. He and his wife, Donna,  have started online art courses www.artbytesacademy.com . If you are curious about Edward's training, you can watch some of his videos as you sign up for a free trial and get an idea of how good his lessons always are. I am very grateful to have taken his classes and I enjoy doing the online training.
Thank you for your interest and support, have a wonderful Spring!

Jan/Feb 2015

 It has been a busy beginning of the New Year. For a change from portraits, I was working on my Bald Cypress River Scene and hoped to have it finished by the end of January. It took a little longer. There is a magic about Texas rivers. Two elements that fascinate me about them are the surprising colors of the water (the most beautiful green blues) and the trees found on their banks. I wanted this to be an Impressionist style landscape, only the trees would not cooperate... I was also thinking about a river scene by my friend and fellow artist, Cindy Morawski, (cindymorawski.blogspot.com) who a while ago beautifully portrayed the bald cypress at Garner State Park. I will ask her, if I can show you that particular painting next month.

Bald Cypress River Scene in Boerne, TX, oil on canvas, 30x40"

Till this week, I thought I needed to work some more on this gestural abstract done in class. Looking at it carefully, I finally realized that the painting was finished. The gestural technique was explained by Edward Povey and I mean to paint some more abstracts in the same way. It is very different from my other work and I found it liberating. It can be rotated, since I rotated it again and again when I was working on it.

Gestural Abstract, oil on canvas, 30x40"

My goal for this year is to have a portrait (or other) commission every month. I am painting an icon on commission right now and then a young woman's portrait.
If you know someone who would enjoy a portrait, or other work by me, let me know.
For prints and cards of my work, visit the River Art gallery in San Antonio or online http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/vera-smith.html?tab=artworkgalleries

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!