Visual Language Magazine Contemporary Fine Art Vol 3 no 9

VL
Studio Visit Carol Jo Smidt
My fascination with the beauty and grace of horses
greatly influenced my artistic path. Drawing horses as
a 4 year old is my first recollection of my passion for art.
My bedroom walls were covered with my pencil drawings
of my beloved horses. Hours were spent drawing
horses and other animals. It was in kindergarten that I
realized others would want my art. Dissatisfied with my
work, I took a horse drawing and threw it in the trash
can. A classmate reached into the trash and took the
drawing because he liked it! Even at that young age, I
was amazed that people would want my work!
After high school, I attended the St. Paul School of Art.
Fast-forward with me through marriage, a son, 21 addresses
in 26 years during my husband’s Navy career,
and a BA in Advertising Design from Iowa State University.
We finally settled in an equine community outside
of Woodbine, a small town in southeast Georgia. I finally
could have my beloved horses on our small farm,
but although my passion for art was there it still resided
deep within and struggled to come fully alive.
After a dozen years as a self-employed graphic designer
and periodic dabbling with a paint brush, I learned
that my passion for art was to call me back via yet another
path. Enrolling in Savannah College of Art and
Design and taking a number of graphic design graduate
courses, I was finally brought back to my first love.
It was on this part of my journey that I realized my need
to leave the work and world of graphic design to get
back to my first love – the visual arts and my painting!
What is my painting world like today I recently moved
from a small loft on the third floor in our house to my
new studio, which is the entire first floor of our house.
I set myself on a fairly structured schedule, and I focus
on some aspect of my new artist’s life on Monday
through Friday, 9 to 5. Many mornings are spent with
paperwork and research. Without a schedule, my
painting time would vanish, and I would have a lot of
blank canvas! My work is best done with some breaks.
I take small vacations, but after a few days, I hear the
call of my paints, brushes, and canvases, and I eagerly
get back to my easel and pour myself into my paintings.
For me, painting is like working on a puzzle, without the
picture on the box to guide me. Most times the answers
do not come particularly fast. But by experimenting,
nudging here and there, my ideas begin to take form
and a new painting comes to life. I normally paint by
adding layers over layers. When the paint becomes too
wet or my eyes too fatigued by looking at the colors being
used, I move on to another painting. I have between
4 to 12 paintings in different stages of completion.
I’ve heard it said that there is “beauty in the everyday”.
I agree. I enjoy painting ordinary subjects with extraordinary
colors. My painting subjects are usually animals,
but I like the challenge of painting other subjects.
Through my painting experiences, I have branched out
by creating landscapes, still life, and figurative art.
Wanting to expand beyond oils, I started painting with
pastels and gouache. I have grown to love these two
new media. Changing my media and changing the
size of canvases from ultra-mini to very large helps me
move into a new creative arena.
Not wanting to become too comfortable with my art,
I strive to continue to learn by trying anything new;
subjects, color combinations, techniques, and media.
Knowing that you need to discover by doing, I have
learned that my “best teacher is my canvas”. I have
come to believe that “to learn is to paint” and “to paint
is to learn”.
www.caroljosmidt.com
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