About the Artist

My name is 'Irish' Smith. I'm a leading local artist who lives on a farm with my husband, four horses and five cats. We have two grown children and one grandson. I have been painting for over thirty years. I am primarily self-taught, having read just about everything the Warren Public Library had to offer on painting and art.

My favorite media is oils, but I also work in acrylic, watercolor, pastel, colored pencil and pen and ink. What media I use depends on my subject and what I want to express with it.

My favorite subjects? Light and shadow. What intrigues me most is the way the light hits the subject, the shadows it forms and the glow of the reflected lights. It gives depth, and most of all, life. My favorite objects to paint are old buildings, farm scenes, still life, animal portraits, florals.

I work almost entirely from photos. I first have to *see* a clear picture in my mind of my subject. This picture isn't necessarily objects, but colors, values, movement; an abstract concept filled in with the more representational objects. Once I get that "flavor" I can start with sketches. These might be computer sketches, or just simple drawings showing the movement through the picture. If I have photos that are close enough to what I want, I won't do any sketches. I'll adjust color and value as I paint. I have a different approach for each painting.

Very early, I found that when I painted directly from my subject, I had a tendency to get hung up on all the detail. I felt that what I saw before me was Truth and that’s how I had to paint it. But, painting from photos taught me that the Truth I was trying to portray came from within me. A photo always lies, and knowing that, I felt free to move things around, eliminate unnecessary detail, change color, whatever I needed to do to make a good painting.

I have been accepted to, and received awards from, many local, regional and national art shows. But that wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to create something that when people look at my art they connect with it. Art is, after all, a form of communication, and I want my work to communicate to viewers. I want them to feel something when they look at my work. That's what's most important to me.

My art is very enjoyable and is something I will always do.