Laura K Smith Paintings

I had so much fun today at the @thearchesofstgeorge pop up event! Thank you to everyone for coming out and to those who found something special to take home! I loved seeing familiar faces and meeting new people! ❤️🎄❤️

Thank you to the organisers @thearchesofstgeorge, to the other vendors: @sechespampas, @sofie.bijoux, @jondblack, @valkfermentation, @lostandfoundicecream for a fun atmosphere and thanks to @missmoncton for this photo!

Happy Holidays!

"It’s always a good feeling to add any skill – big or small – to your repertoire. Since following a watercolor course at the Ann Arbor Art Center this semester, I’ve made some pieces I’m quite pleased with and wanted to offer for sale. With these finished pieces, the practical question I was facing was how to professionally mat these works. In this blog post, I share what I’ve recently learned about matting artwork and the tools that helped me get a sleek and polished result for my recent watercolour artwork."

Read the full blog post here: Skills Corner: Learning To Mat Artwork - Laura K. Smith Paintings (lauraksmithpaintings.com)  

"Since September, my working method has changed. Back in Belgium, I worked on one project at a time. No matter if I was working small or large, I enjoyed the process of working consistently from start to finish. Since arriving in Michigan, my working method has shifted and these days I am working on multiple things at once. The biggest change is the amount of time I am allocating to experimentation. This results in pieces I may not like or keep as well as new ideas that I incorporate into my work. Such lightbulb moments and times of frustration necessarily accompany my decision to try new mediums and subjects. All this has led me to wonder: are these other artistic activities refreshing and inspiring or simply distracting? In this blog post, I write about my experience in working differently than what was my norm and I share what’s working and what isn’t."

Read the full blog post here: Multitasking: Refreshing or Distracting? - Laura K. Smith Paintings (lauraksmithpaintings.com) 

"I can remember playing with oil paints as a teenager and my impatience while waiting for the layers to dry. I’ve dabbled in pastel and various other drawing tools, like pencil and charcoal. But, for as long as I have been painting, acrylic paints have been my medium of choice. Acrylics were the medium used in the painting courses I followed at university, and they afforded me the possibility to work with vibrant colours and layer quickly and thickly. While I’ve always appreciated the delicacy of watercolour, I had never gotten into it—until this Fall. In this blogpost, I write about my recent experimentation with the new-to-me medium of watercolour paint: the difficult parts, the fun parts, and the surprising parts of working with watercolour."

Read the full blog post here: Experimenting With Watercolour: A New-To-Me Medium - Laura K. Smith Paintings (lauraksmithpaintings.com)

For sale exclusively on Instagram: Laura K. Smith (@laura.k.smith_paintings) • Instagram-foto's en -video's 

"My favourite part of any day is painting. For me, this means sitting at my easel or desk and doing the work of creating: playing with colour and getting lost in the image I’m working on. But before I can settle in, I have to make sure that I am well set up and have everything I need to get to work. An essential part of getting started on any artistic project is having the right supplies on hand. This post is about how I make choices when it comes to what materials I use, how I balance budget and quality, and where I shop."

Read the full blog post here: Art Supplies: Stocking Up, Material Lists, and Budgeting - Laura K. Smith Paintings (lauraksmithpaintings.com) 

'This summer, I was able to have a long visit—six weeks!—with my family and friends in Canada. The reunion was fantastic especially given the length of time between this visit and our last (pre-pandemic). Because of the length of this stay, I tried to balance visiting and traveling with a little working. My parents generously made a bright room in their home available to me for my painting practice during the summer.'

Read the full blog post here: Painter On The Road: My Temporary Studios! - Laura K. Smith Paintings (lauraksmithpaintings.com)

"When I am not in the studio, I like to be outside. During the last year especially, it has become clear that getting out, even for a short walk, is crucial for my physical, mental, and creative health. In the three weeks that I have been back in the Canadian Maritimes, I’ve visited and revisited some great spots in the provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick. In this post, I outline the hiking trails and beaches I’ve visited so far and connect these trips to my painting practice."

Read the full post here: Hiking the Maritimes: Inspiration From My Travels Home - Laura K. Smith Paintings (lauraksmithpaintings.com) 

"The other day, I was making a quick sketch of the maple tree outside of my window. Recently I’ve been sketching more. With pencil crayons in hand, I was getting the impression of this large tree down on paper. “Draw what you see, not what you know”, was the foundational lesson I learned in drawing class. This means to register the shapes, colours, and tonal values of the object(s) in space (a scene). The difficult thing is to do so without getting caught up in your thoughts, judgements and assumptions about the object(s) or scene."

Full blog post available here: Trusting Your Eye: Lessons from Drawing Class - Laura K. Smith Paintings (lauraksmithpaintings.com) 

Read this review by a happy collector:

"I had admired Laura’s art on Instagram for a while, and when I had a special occasion to celebrate, I couldn’t think of a more perfect gift than one of her beautiful paintings. Laura immediately responded when I reached out, and the communication was friendly, clear and professional. She kept me updated about her progress, and she shipped the painting meticulously wrapped and protected. Most importantly, the end result was, as you can see from the photo, gorgeous! The colours are so vibrant, and the loose brushstrokes creating a layered, multi-dimensional experience, capturing the energy of the sunset over the surf, as well as its sense of peace. I highly recommend anyone to purchase one of Laura’s works!!"

More reviews available at Reviews - Laura K. Smith Paintings (lauraksmithpaintings.com) 

"I’ve always preferred paint to pencil. With paint, I feel that I have more freedom. I can put down my wash—a first indication of the image to emerge—with little commitment. By building layer upon layer, I continue to make decisions throughout the entire painting process. In contrast, the fine tip of the pencil can feel intimidating. If I put down these lines now, can I change my mind later?"

Read the full blog post here: Sketching For Sketching's Sake - Laura K. Smith Paintings (lauraksmithpaintings.com)

"I’ve got some news to share… In a just couple of days, I will be taking a plane headed for the U.S.! I’m trying to mentally prepare for the shock of not only venturing further than my front door, or the much-walked streets of my neighbourhood, but crossing the Atlantic and setting up house for a year in Michigan! While this is only a temporary move, spending a year in another country certainly entails sorting out a whole lot of life things!"

Read the full blog post here: Preparing For A Temporary Move: En Route To Michigan! - Laura K. Smith Paintings (lauraksmithpaintings.com) 

"Whether I’m in my element or trying something new, I’m very rarely nervous in the studio. While painting, I get into the flow. I’m usually energized and curious, open to experimentation and/or peacefully plugging along. When it comes to shipping my paintings, however, it has taken some practice to get comfortable. Shipping artwork entails various steps, all with the main goal of ensuring that the work reaches the collector in a safe and timely fashion. In this blog post, I share my process of packaging paintings from the logistical steps to the emotional rollercoaster of letting a painting go!"

Full blog post available here: The Process of Packaging Paintings - Laura K. Smith Paintings (lauraksmithpaintings.com) 

"No matter what I’m painting—whether it’s a forest scene, a seascape, or a portrait—I’m always building layers of paint. Moreover, no matter the style I am working in, from more impressionistic to semi-abstract, layering is the foundation of my painting technique. In what follows, I’ll share my technique of building layers using acrylic paints."

Full blog post available here: Building Layers Using Acrylic Paints - Laura K. Smith Paintings (lauraksmithpaintings.com).

"Thus far, The Studio Companion Series has focused on the podcasts that inspire me in my studio practice. This week, for the final installment of The Studio Companion Series, I focus on the music that gets me started in the studio, keeps me going through challenges, and helps me over the finish line!"

Full blog post available here: Studio Companion Series: My Go-To Music - Laura K. Smith Paintings (lauraksmithpaintings.com)