June July 2016

On Aug 28th 2016, in the afternoon, I am having an Art Show  of recent paintings and drawings at my home. If you are in the San Antonio area, let me know if you can come.

 Blue Retama portrays the Palo Verde (or Retama tree) in our backyard. The landscape is part abstract, part imaginary, part West Texas.

 Roses and Morning Glories was painted in our garden. Sara's morning glories bloomed for months and were such a cheerful sight. They were bigger than I painted them. I didn't want to take away from the roses, which I had painted first and wanted to be the focal point.

Mother and Child is a graphite drawing done from a photograph which I took on a Saturday night at a very busy local restaurant, The Cove, where we were having dinner with good friends. Mothers and children is a subject dear to my heart.

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!