Teresa Smith
Friday Harbor, WA
I paint cathedral trees and wild places. I paint an island. Colors and shapes and the soul in nature. Contemporary oil paintings for modern spaces.
MessageB.A., Visual Arts, Naropa University
Informed by a naturalist philosophy, Teresa’s art combines a richness of oil paint and contemplative practice. Growing up in rural Quebec instilled a sincere and intimate love of deep woods.
Years of riding horses through old growth forest of the west coast. Hikes with Irish Wolfhounds and immersion into the plant world as a Master Gardener inform her work. The philosophy of the intelligence of trees adds depth. Teresa paints the soul in nature.
Teresa graduated from Naropa University with a contemplative arts degree. She exhibits her largescale oil paintings in the US and Canada.
She lives on a little ferry served island with her horses, irish wolfhounds, and giant fir trees. The vista in front of her is Mount Baker and the Salish Sea.
Statement
I ride through island woods on an Arabian mare. Lagoon on left, cathedral trees to the right.
Mist rises in a thin veil as if illuminating an alternate world.
A moldery scent of greenery gone by and brilliant red leaves, form patterns on the trail. Colors are intense after a rain. Damp brings out the richest color, like stones, luminous under water. Cedar tree appears green and I see alizarin, gold and blue. There are a thousand shades of green. Sun strikes foliage and light glistens white. Deepest shadows are as dark as raven.
In my studio I recall shapes, colors, lines and form. I remember smells and sounds, memorialize the place with paint. I begin with thin layers of oily warm transparent hues, mutating into thick painterly brush marks. Each layer stamps the recollection of that day’s ride, the pieces unfold in a contemplative manner.
The finished piece is a mosaic of light, weaving and interlacing patterns and color. Like stained glass, they represent the mystery beneath the surface, the layer woven between worlds. I paint this island as sanctuary. A woodland temple and shelter from the storm.
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